Under the Endless Sky
by Primal Red
Summary: Discontinued.
1. Spring Skies

**Title:** Under the Endless Sky

**Chapter 1:** Spring Skies

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character(s)/Pairing(s):** Sawada Tsunayoshi. Miura Haru. Eventual Tsuharu, 1896.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/Crime/Romance

**Rating:** PG-13 for intense combat violence and dark themes

**Warnings:** Combat violence, blood, psychological themes

**Summary:** Many things change with time; for Tsuna, however, nothing would ever be easy. The years after the Future Arc and everything that may come to pass. [sequel to When Spring Fades, eventual TsuHaru, 1896]

* * *

**A/N:** So…I decided to write a long action/adventure fanfic on KHR that is TsuHaru (with romance and general themes) for the sake of my other work, When Spring Fades. Somehow, this idea needs to be written, because it has bothered me day and night and refused to stop until I finally finish it. ^_^; I hope, however, that this chapter and the following ones will please you all.

So…on with the masterpiece! Er…at least, I hope it is.

* * *

"_Now I've lived through my share of misfortune,_

_And I've worked in the blazing sun,_

_but how long does it take somebody_

_Before they can be someone?"_

—Mute Math in "Typical"

* * *

Chapter 1: Spring Skies

* * *

Tsuna found himself walking along the road to Haru's home. Today was, as usual, something that didn't turn out too badly, though it was often in his definition that anything that turned out to be "not that bad" ended up meaning something that was considered "typical" in the words of Reborn. So far, though, he had managed to stay home for the majority of the weekend to prevent any mishaps. Hectic as the day turned out to be, he didn't find anything happen out of the ordinary other than what usually did occur.

He had promised, though, to meet Haru this afternoon to talk about what role he was going to give her in the mafia ranks.

Such was, perhaps, the reason why he had stayed up for a while last night. He had thought about the situation all week, and though he knew that the girl wanted very strongly to be part of the team that would help support him, he also knew that he did not have a single idea about what was the best task for her in the ranks of the Vongola.

In fact, he had no idea at all what to tell her.

"She could learn to be a spy."

"…I don't know about tha—HEY! REBORN!"

The hitman nodded as he sat on Tsuna's shoulder. "From what I think, Haru has all the qualifications of a good spy for the Vongola. At first glance, she may seem very silly, but she is quite intelligent and knows how to observe things. What's more, she was able to detect the fact that you were hiding many things from her and found out enough to get you and the rest of the team to start talking…"

"B—but Reborn! She's a girl! She might not like the idea of…well…"

"—of getting into dangerous situations for your sake? Just ask her."

"NO! I will forbid Haru to do such things for my sake! No way!"

The infant mafioso smirked slightly, then nodded. "Very well. If that's your decision."

"Definitely," Tsuna nodded determinedly.

"Then, she could be a strategist."

Tsuna blinked. "Strategist? What do you mean?"

"She knows enough about the mafia, that girl. With enough training, she can sharpen her mind enough to be trained in helping you decide how to run the family."

The teenager stopped. "…I'm not sure…yeah, Haru is a smart girl, but…I'm not sure if she could…"

"…if she could come up with the ideas to help you make decisions?"

"…well…the thing is…I don't know how much she can do yet."

A silence fell into the streets, as Tsuna stopped to ponder about the matter. Haru being a strategist…it could work, if Haru was determined and smart enough to go to such a level. Despite the fact that the girl didn't have any formal training, she could very well be someone that could help him find out about certain things in the mafia and do more than just cook and clean for the family guardians…

Tsuna thought for a moment, then spoke, "How about…we ask Haru what she would like to do…then find out from there and look in the mafia to see what sort of tasks there are?"

"Now you are thinking like a mafia boss. Good. What's more, Haru would appreciate the fact that you are thinking for her and considering her role."

Tsuna nodded. As far as he knew…Haru needed to find something to do other than the schoolwork that she had and so forth, if she was spending so much time with his friends. What's more, it would be a bad idea if Haru was forced into a role that she wouldn't appreciate.

"Speaking of which, your role for today is to train yourself further," the hitman smiled as he pulled out Leon. "Your task now is to speed and power yourself up in the Dying Will mode."

"W—what?"

"You do realize just how much power it has taken out of you and the rest of the group to defeat Byakuran, right? The fact was, we were barely enough to destroy the Millefiore, and we were THIS close to being wiped out. If it hadn't been for Uni and the Giglio Nero and the assistance of the others, we would have been toast."

"Oh…" Tsuna winced at the reminder. Reborn was right; if it hadn't been for all of their efforts placed together, the enemy they had faced in the future would have wiped them out.

Not to mention that everyone's lives would have been destroyed as well.

Tsuna thought for a moment, then looked up determinedly. "Alright. Where shall we begin?"

* * *

They walked continuously, until Reborn jumped off Tsuna's shoulder onto the ground, right in the mountainous area where there was little else but trees and a cliff.

"Here?"

"Yes."

"But…wasn't this the place I trained before?"

"Indeed, but we're doing something different this time around. First off, you're going to train yourself further on certain other aspects that we have been neglecting; in particular, your speed and dodging skills, your blast power, and your combo accuracy and precision. What's worse is the fact that you strongly lack the flexibility in combat—as you have proven yourself in the battle against the Millefiore—and you are far from having reached your full potential even as of now."

"…damn…"

Of all things, he was going to have to do more things that he didn't particularly like.

"So…shall we begin?" Reborn took out Leon and a few weapons.

"WAIT! This is…"

"…too quick? Well, get used to it."

"What do you mean?"

"First off, let's say this: the Vongola is currently dealing with a lot of matters at hand at this point in time. Being your tutor, it is my responsibility to make you ready for the problems you are going to have to face in the future."

"What problems?"

"…Rokudo Mukuro, for instance."

Tsuna choked at the name and felt his heart stop in fear. "M—Mukuro? Damn it…erm…"

"Of all the people out there who the Vongola are dealing with, one of the first people that you would want to resolve completely will definitely be Mukuro. Remember, he and Chrome ARE your future Mist Guardians."

Tsuna blinked. "…you mean…I have to…gain his trust or something?"

"Exactly."

"…Eek!" Tsuna blanched. The idea of him having to get Mukuro to side with him was, in all respects, very dangerous and could very much cost him his life.

"That's exactly what we are going to work on," Reborn smiled. "First off, by strengthening your combat skills enough so that you will handle him with no problem."

Tsuna stopped to think for a moment. If this was the way he would have to go, it could prove to be very horrible for him. Nevertheless, if he wanted to protect everyone in his family and in his circle of friends, he would have to do it.

He would have to take this path and go to a new level of being able to ensure everything runs accordingly to how he wants things to go.

Tsuna looked at the ground, then turned his gaze to Reborn, his eyes shining with determination for once. "…tell me how this is going to make me stronger."

Reborn nodded. "About time you realized it."

Tsuna nodded, and began to concentrate. Slowly, he began to feel a certain warmth in his heart, and it gradually grew to the point where it was pervading his existence. When he finally opened his eyes, Tsuna realized that he was suddenly in his V.R. Hyper Dying Will mode.

It was a bit surprising that he was able to begin to use this mode at will to an extent. He had heard from earlier times that the First Vongola boss was capable of doing something like this and knew how to use the mode at will much more easily. From what it seemed, he was to strengthen himself to such a level.

Tsuna turned to Reborn, and noticed that the hitman was preparing a number of guns. "So…how is this going to work?"

Reborn pulled out a number of bullets. "We're going to test you on your dodging skills first. From what it seems, you are very susceptible of being hit by guns even in the future, and that is something we need to work on in terms of strengthening your capacity to not get hit. What's more…" the hitman smirked, "your dodging skills in the Millefiore battle was pretty horrible."

Tsuna paled. This was not going to be a good day.

* * *

Haru walked out of her house. So far, it seemed that no one was watching her, and she was thankful. In some ways, she wondered if the current and future safety of her environment might involve her relationship with the Vongola family's future leader, then brushed the thought off.

She was here to find Tsuna, and to ask him what was going to be her role in the Vongola family.

Haru stopped to think. So far, it seemed that Tsuna might not exactly know about all of her hopes and dreams, nor would he understand her preferences in a job. From what she knew, however, she didn't exactly have many high expectations of such a thing. She was lenient on the job hours—as long as it involved Tsuna-san—and though she didn't know her full capabilities, she will use almost anything to help Tsuna-san be safe and ensure the safety of the family.

If that was the case, she will tell him, and hopefully they will find out together what she could do for the Vongola.

Haru nodded, and continued walking towards the park where Tsuna had talked to her alone several days ago. In some ways, the experience had been very surreal, for she had not expected Tsuna to carry her in his Dying Will stage to such a nice place without the assistance of anyone being around. What's more, she had not expected him to listen to her completely and hear out her thoughts so that she would be understood so fully.

For someone who was only fifteen, Tsuna-san had a natural talent for ensuring the safety and well being of his followers.

Her thoughts were cut short when she looked up. Tsuna-san was walking towards her.

Haru jumped up at the sight of his injuries, and ran over to him. "Tsuna-san! What happened?"

Tsuna-san looked up, and his expression went from exhausted to relieved. "…I was…training…"

It was then that Haru began to realize the full gravity of the situation. "Wha—why do you need to train, though? Is something wrong?"

"It's because he is going to be a mafia boss."

Haru looked up and saw Reborn sitting on Tsuna-san's head. "Oh. Hi, Reborn-chan."

"_Ciaossu_."

Something bothered her, though, about Tsuna-san's injuries. From what it seemed, he was walking in a manner that seemed very awkward for someone who was supposed to have normal control over his limbs—or perhaps it was because he had broken a few bones. What's more, the burns on his skin were evident in a way that seemed to say plenty about what had happened.

Tsuna saw the frightened expression on Haru's face, and apologized regretfully before he unintentionally fell into her arms, unconscious from exhaustion.

"…Haru…I'm sorry…"


	2. When the Sky is Falling

**Title:** Under The Endless Sky

**Chapter Title:** When the Sky is Falling

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character(s):** Miura Haru. Sawada Tsunayoshi. Also Reborn, Dino Cavallone, and a little bit of Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi, Sasagawa Ryohei, Sawada Nana, Sasagawa Kyoko.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/Romance

**Rating:** PG-13 for combat injuries, including broken bones and second-degree burns (might become R later because of combat violence and blood and gore and really intense psychological themes…like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and such)

**Warnings:** Burn injuries and slight mention of broken bones, SPOILERS for the Future Arc up to Chapter 256.

**Summary:** The hospital was a place that she had never wanted to visit very often…[from Ch. 256 in the manga, eventual TsuHaru, 1896]

* * *

**A/N:** So, repeating: the story is going to be alternate to the actual manga from chapter 256. I came up with this idea before the manga chapters came out up to 269, so don't attack me if I write certain details differently from the manga's canon. My story diverges at chapter 256 in KHR.

Oh, and I should mention this before I leave: I have no way to write anything until during the Winter Break, because I have finals coming in, and I have no way of writing fanfiction AND prepare for the finals all at once. I'm not a multitasker, and I am incapable of writing well under pressure, so please wait until December 24. That will be around the time I update with chapter 3.

* * *

"_Truth is like a fear,_

_fear of heaven._

_Truth ain't always clear,_

_clear like heaven"_

—Chemda in Conjure One, "Forever Lost"

* * *

Chapter 2: When the Sky is Falling

* * *

The hospital was a place that she had never wanted to visit very often. It was a place for the dead, the suffering, and the miserable. It was not a place for smiles, joy and contentment.

Haru glanced at Tsuna's pallid face and wondered, for a moment, whether it was a premonition to come for any training in the future that he would have to undertake.

No, she must not think such thoughts. Tsuna-san was going to be alright, and he will be in the future. And, if not, SHE will make sure of that.

Haru will take it into her own hands to make sure that Tsuna-san will be alright in the future.

The dark-haired girl shook her head, and allowed herself to look determinedly at the ground. Reborn was currently talking to the doctor, and she hoped to high heavens that Tsuna would be at peace here for some time. Though she didn't know how far the extent of injuries had gone, from what she had seen…it was quite bad in the sense that he had overextended himself. The skin on his arms were red and slightly peeling, as though they had suffered major burns from the Dying Will fire. The way that he had walked determinedly to their designated meeting place had indicated that he had broken a leg.

The worst part, however, was the fact that he had smiled through all that pain and injury when he spotted her.

That he actually had the nerve and grace to smile at her despite being so badly hurt…

That he had the nerve and will to be relieved when he saw her…

_Damn it…_

…_damn it…_

It was then that Haru realized she was crying.

She blinked through her tears. Damn it, she wasn't supposed to do this in front of Tsuna-san! She may not know very much, but she did know that her upset expression would only make him even more worried, even though he was supposed to care more about the full extent of his injuries right now.

Haru paused for a moment, began thinking, and reached quickly for a napkin in her pocket; it seemed that she was going to have to learn how to keep her emotions in check from now on. From what she did know, Tsuna-san was very good at figuring out the thoughts of the people around him—and though she didn't know how well he could read her expressions, she did know that he had known to an extent that she was upset when he told her about the entire truth.

The truth about what he had been doing all those months with Reborn, and the status that he had been so reluctant to tell her about…was the fact that he happened to be the Tenth Generation Vongola Mafia Family Leader.

She had, during that time, found it difficult to believe, for she wasn't well-aware of the world's workings and how much he had been trying to hide from her and Kyoko-chan. What it had meant, however, was that Tsuna was actually a descendant of one of those families that did work with crime and the underworld.

In other words, it meant that there was a mountain of responsibility that Tsuna will have to carry eventually.

What it also meant, of course, was the fact that she would have to support him in that task, since she didn't want to be part of the burden.

She was going to have to learn how to maintain her emotional stability in case she would face any serious situations in the future.

"…Haru?"

"Tsuna-san…" Haru quietly and eagerly grasped Tsuna's hand. "Haru's sorry…Haru didn't—"

The edge on Tsuna's mouth frowned when he heard her apologize. "…it's not your fault."

"…but…Haru didn't realize that your training would require so much out of you."

She paused as Tsuna flinched at her words. So, she probably shouldn't talk about his training in front of him and the others, then; from what it seemed, Tsuna-san was hesitant to speak too much about the training and what he was thinking about regarding it. At this, Haru decided to change the topic, keeping in mind that the other subject was something she had best keep away.

"So…how are you feeling? Should Haru notify the others about this? Or…should Haru get you something to eat?"

The dark-haired girl watched as Tsuna panicked at the mention of the word "others", then wince in pain from moving his bandaged arms. "N—No! Really! It…it's okay."

"Really? Um…then…"

"Just…stay here for a bit…"

"…Okay..."

The silence that followed was, unfortunately, awkward, and Haru suspected that it was mostly because neither of them knew exactly what to say to the other. For a future mafia boss's wife, she was an idiot.

An idiot for not knowing what her prospective future husband liked to talk about.

Haru sighed mentally, and began to bite her lip. "…um…Haru doesn't know what Haru should talk about, Tsuna-san…"

"Well…" Tsuna winced at his injuries as he attempted to sit up, then decided to give up on the task. "How about let's talk about what you really want to be when you grow up?"

"Hahi?"

"Since you are going to be part of the family anyways…it's better if you know what you are doing in the Vongola."

"Okay!"

Haru stopped for a moment. What exactly did she want to be? What was it that she wanted? Well…she didn't exactly know as much, that's for sure. The problem was, she had so many interests that it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what she was most fascinated with. She had many things that she loved to read about, and that she wanted to do with her life. If anything, she would prefer discussing and reading and talking to people all day so that she could resolve problems and be part of something that was helpful to humanity in general.

That, and…she didn't exactly understand what it meant to have a job, at least…not yet. She wasn't old enough.

Until now.

Haru thought for a moment, then glanced at Tsuna straight in the eye and said, "Haru is willing to help you in any way that you allow her to."

For the first time in his life, Tsuna was inexpressibly stunned by a girl's determination.

And it wasn't just any girl, but Miura Haru. It was Haru, the girl who lived in his neighborhood who walked on walls and flipped from them to introduce herself to Reborn.

Haru, the girl who would make silly "beloved wife" lunches for him, as well as help out the rest of the team.

She was…willing to do just about anything that he would let her.

It was beyond stunning. It was extraordinary.

It was extraordinary in the fact that the girl was so determined to help him.

Damn…this was going to be difficult. But, all the same, he was glad that she was so determined to help him, even though he didn't like the idea of obliging her to work for him.

Tsuna thought for a moment, then turned to Haru. "You mean…a strategist position would be okay with you?"

"…yeah!" Haru nodded determinedly. "…if Tsuna-san doesn't mind, Haru will definitely train herself to be the best strategist in the world, then!"

"…damn, that means that you will get pulled into the mafia business as well."

"But…Haru is already IN the mafia business. Haru managed to get Tsuna-san to tell Haru and Kyoko-chan about everything…"

At this, Haru trailed off, and there was a tinge of guilt at the last word. Damn, so she was still feeling bad about that situation.

Tsuna sighed, then placed a hand on Haru's hand at the edge of the hospital bed. "Haru, I will protect you and Kyoko-chan with everything I have. It doesn't matter if I die in the process—"

"Hahi! Haru doesn't want Tsuna-san to die!"

Tsuna chuckled nervously. "Well, yeah, neither do I, but…still…when worse comes to worse…I will defend all of you."

"Hahi! But, Haru wants to defend you as well! Haru wants to fight!"

The last word that shot out of her mouth made Tsuna's hand stiffen. "What? Hiiii! No, no! Don't do that!"

"But, why? If there are more fighters on your side, wouldn't that help?"

"Well…" Tsuna's voice trailed off as he realized that the girl before him had a point. "Um…you see, it wouldn't be a good thing if Kyoko-chan and everyone else found out that you were injured in combat."

"It isn't a good thing if YOU were found injured in combat, either…"

Damn, she did have a point there.

"…right?"

Tsuna sighed resignedly. "…right."

So…he was going to have to accept Haru into the mafia's fighting team.

Dang it…

Well, at least he would be able to keep an eye on her better, if that was the case.

Tsuna thought for a moment, then began to speak. "Well, first off, I'm going to have to set up a few rules here. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that a mafia member has certain responsibilities. I am not sure to what extent you would want live up to them as of yet…"

As he spoke, he carefully glanced at the girl in front of him. Haru was willing to do just about anything for his safety for now, but that was exactly why he was going to have to regulate her role to an extent first. If there was one thing for sure, he knew that he didn't want to see her get hurt in a fight, and so far, he didn't know much about how to set up anything, and he really wasn't sure what he could do for her yet other than to make sure she doesn't get into any trouble.

"The thing is, even I don't know much about the mafia's workings, so I am not quite sure what I can tell you about yet."

"Hahi?"

"How about this…I'll ask Reborn about what the standards are for each open role in the mafia. That ways, we could look over those roles and find out which one works best."

Haru smiled. "Sure! Why not? Reborn-chan definitely should know, even though…"

"…yeah, I know." _Even though he is just a baby._

"Who are you calling a baby?"

Tsuna jumped, and painfully regretted it. "Hiiii! Reborn! Don't scare me like that!"

The arcobaleno smirked. "I think that means you have another aspect that you need to improve on: knowing when anyone is approaching you."

Tsuna frowned. Damn it! He knew he was weak, but if there was something that annoyed him, it was when those weaknesses were pointed out in front of him and others as well.

The brown-haired boy turned hesitantly to Haru, embarrassed that she had heard Reborn talk of his weakness, and spoke. "Looks like we might have to talk about those rules later, then, after we decide on a few things."

"Okay."

"That said…how long do I have to say in here?"

Reborn glanced at the papers he held in his hands. "Well, it seems that you ended up with second-degree burns, though they're not going to leave any scars or stay permanent. What's more, you ended up breaking your leg when you tried to avoid crashing into that cliff. I believe Dino's medical professionals will be here in a minute to help you with those problems."

"Huh?"

"I called a few people over."

The impact of Reborn's implications began to hit him, and Tsuna felt a headache forming. "B-but, Rebor—!"

"Tenth!"

It was then that Tsuna felt a throbbing headache take place and grow in his mind. It seemed like most of the entire group—Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Dino, and even his mother—had found out about his hospitalization, and were here to see how he was doing.

"Tenth! What happened to you?"

"Hey, Tsuna!"

"Tsu-kun! What did you do this time?"

"Sawada! It must have been so extreme! You trained so hard that you burned yourself!"

"Hey, Tsuna! How are you feeling?"

"…Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna looked up just in time to see Kyoko standing behind Ryohei, smiling at him. "Er…uh…h—hi, Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko giggled. "Looks like you overdid it again, huh?"

Tsuna blushed. Even now, he was unable to speak properly in front of his school idol. It was embarrassing, and though he hoped that he didn't seem stupid for overtraining, he was just glad that she simply walked by to see how he was.

Even now, he still couldn't quite make himself ask her out, no matter how hard he tried.

Tsuna suddenly felt a gentle pat on his shoulder, and noticed that Haru was looking suspiciously sad and frowning at the people looking in outside the window. "Huh?"

"Who are those people?"

"Ah…those people you're referring to are the medics of the Cavallone family," Dino replied, as he stepped forward. "My name is Dino Cavallone. I believe your name is Miura Haru?"

"Hahi! How does this stranger know my name? I didn't tell you who I am, and you already know? Tsuna-san! Tell me what's going on!"

"Of course he knows your name, stupid woman!" Gokudera gritted out. "He's one of the Tenth's allies!"

"Hahi! Haru's not a stupid woman!"

Tsuna reached painfully to the side and patted Haru on the arm. "Don't worry. Dino is one of our allies. And, he's kinda like my big brother."

At the mention, Haru's suspicion was replaced with awe. "Tsuna-san has an older brother mentor? Wow! I didn't know!"

Tsuna sighed. This was going to be a long day…

But at least everyone now knows he is okay.

* * *

"According to the information we have just gathered on his training, Sawada-san is now incapable of training for at least two months. He has burns on his arms, and it appears that those are going to require icing for three weeks. What's more, his leg has broken, and needs to be casted for the entire time. Hopefully, during this period of time, Sawada-san will not engage in any sort of training other than with his mind."

The room was silent as the doctor noted the list of reasons that Tsuna needed to heal. Soon, however, the silence was broken by Gokudera's unrestrained wails, and Haru stood to the side as she wondered if this was the way that subordinates behaved in front of their leaders in the mafia world.

"Tenth! I'm so sorry! I didn't know that you would have to go through training! I'm so sorry that I wasn't there! I will definitely be there next time you train, Tenth. Definitely!"

_Okay, so…that was the reason why he felt bad_, Haru thought. For a moment, she smiled at Gokudera-san's antics, then frowned. Why was she smiling? Tsuna-san was injured, and needed her help soon.

"…Tsuna-kun, I just…hope that you won't do this again."

Tsuna blushed and smiled brightly at Kyoko-chan. "Definitely! Er…I mean…um…sure. Okay."

Haru frowned. So much for her hope that Tsuna will even look at herself as a future mafia boss's wife; it seemed that Kyoko made Tsuna happier in terms of just her presence alone.

She wondered if she could ever do the same.

"So…you really like him, don't you?"

Haru immediately blushed at the question. "Huh? Oh! Um…well…"

The older brother mentor of Tsuna, Dino, smiled knowingly. "I guess Tsuna's lucky to have you around. Thanks for looking after him while he was at the hospital."

"Eh…no problem!" Haru smiled slightly, a bit nervous at the fact that she was talking to the Cavallone mafia leader, "It's always something I will to do for Tsuna-san, after all. He's…uh…one of my first friends."

"Ah, I see. I take it that you're the one who asked Tsuna if she could be part of the Vongola?"

Haru turned bright red at Dino's words. "Eh! Erm…well…it's just that I want to help. That's all!"

"Well, you were always being helpful for Tsuna and the others. It's not like they don't notice that."

"Um…I guess it's just that I still think that I could do more than just cook and clean after them."

"…I see," Dino glanced at her for a moment, considering the meaning of her words, then nodded. "You're a brave girl to decide that."

"…thanks," Haru couldn't help but blush at his compliment.

"You'll see what I mean one day," the mafia leader smiled, then looked at Tsuna for a moment, and his tone became a bit more serious. "I think you know what it means to an extent on what it means to be a mafioso, right? After all…we're not all upright and everything nice."

Haru stopped. Dino was right on this, for sure. From what she knew, the mafia business was often bloody and terrible according to the newspapers that spoke of their workings. What's more, she had known of the fact that the Vongola, the most powerful mafia family in the world, was most likely not as merciful and considerate of every individual in this world as Tsuna was. She didn't know of the existence of such a mafia family before, due to the fact that she was unable to find any links or information on the existence of the Vongola. Now, however, she had a premonition that she was about to find out something that might very well test her faith in Tsuna's kindness.

Well, so be it, then. Tsuna may have to become a mafia boss one day, but she was going to help him and everyone else with everything she had without interfering too much. She was going to ensure their safety and well-being and watch their backs for them.

In short, she may not know if she was the kind of person who wanted to be a mafioso, but she was willing to fight for the sake of her friends at least. That alone gave her the responsibility to help them.

Haru nodded determinedly, and spoke with a conviction that she didn't know she had "I might not know everything about what it means to be a mafioso, but I am willing to understand…for I wish to help them in any way I can to ensure their safety."

Dino smiled calmly as he and Haru watched the rest of the group talk with Tsuna. "If that's the case, then Reborn and I will tell you everything you need to know."

* * *

So far, the following things have happened to him during the afternoon.

He had trained, and had gotten injured.

Haru had taken him to the hospital, and almost everyone in his circle of friends showed up.

It had been a headache to deal with. Gokudera had threatened the nurses with dynamite to ensure that they took good care of him, and Yamamoto had simply laughed and promised him to bring him his homework. His mother had, as usual, embarrassed him in front of Kyoko-chan again, and Ryohei had commented on the extremity he must have trained himself to have second-degree burns.

And Haru, for the most part, had argued with Gokudera. Thankfully, his future right-hand man had not threatened the girl with dynamite, since Dino was there to keep an eye on him.

But the good news was that Kyoko-chan had shown up.

Sasagawa Kyoko-chan, the girl of his dreams.

"Tsuna-san?"

Tsuna broke out of his reverie and looked up. Haru was looking at him.

"Everyone seems to have gone."

"Oh." The brown-haired boy quickly glanced around the room, and noticed that only Yamamoto, and Gokudera had managed to stay outside in the hallway. He had particularly noticed, however, that Gokudera was heatedly arguing with Yamamoto, who laughed and cheerfully replied each time the silver-haired boy yelled at him.

So much for my hopes to rest in a quiet place, Tsuna thought dejectedly.

"So…um…what should we do?" Haru asked nervously.

Tsuna thought for a moment. "I don't know…really…"

Haru thought for a moment. "Maybe I should talk to you about the plan later. Talking about it right here in front of the others is a little…difficult."

Tsuna couldn't help but smile. "That is true."

"Or, how about both of you try reading a few things before making that sort of decision."

Tsuna looked up to see Reborn and Dino and another member of the Cavallone family bring in a few books. "…w—what?"

"Hahi! So many books!"

Tsuna glanced over at Haru, and widened his eyes. There was a glint in Haru's eyes that seemed to suggest that she was fond of the objects that Reborn had brought in.

Dino chuckled as he and his subordinate Romario placed the books on the desk. "It seems that your girlfriend likes reading."

"Eh? No, no! She's not my girlfriend!"

The Cavallone mafia leader smiled teasingly at the exclamation. "Sure. Why else would she be so concerned about your safety?"

"…huh?"

"Reborn told me that the girl wants to become part of the Vongola."

Tsuna sighed, and nodded. "She…just wants to defend me and everyone else. That's all."

He looked out of the corner of his eye at Haru. From what he knew, she was probably willing to go through a lot of danger just to ensure everyone's safety and so forth. The fact was that she had been angry when she was left out on everything, and she was overwhelmed when she had found out about the entire situation. If there was one thing for sure, though, he would say that he was most likely the one who needed to ensure that she didn't run into anything terrible down the line.

She was, after all, his responsibility.

Just like everyone else.

"So…she really IS your girlfriend."

"Wha—NO, NO! Seriously, no! Dino-san, Haru is only a frien—."

"Tsuna-san, look! It's the history of the Vongola!"

Tsuna glanced quickly at the book Haru was holding in her hands and blanched. "Haru! We're not supposed to read that yet!"

"Why not?"

"Because…Reborn, seriously, I don't know if Haru really wants to know about that aspect of the mafia."

_Damn it…why?_

_Why did it have to end up like this?_

Tsuna sighed and began rubbing his temples, ignoring the pain behind the bandages. Though he didn't know much about the mafia, he knew more than enough to understand that the history of mafia was written in blood and despair.

If he lets her read those books, chances are that she will lose all the innocence she has left, and it will be completely his fault.

"Stop worrying, Idiot-Tsuna. Haru knows more than you think."

"But…"

"I should also mention that you have to read the books as well. As long as you're in the hospital, you are going to have to study for school AND read through the history of the Vongola as well to understand what it is for the most part."

Tsuna began to protest, but then decided that it was useless anyways. He then glanced over at Haru, who was already looking through the first volume, and thought for a moment. If Haru was going to join the mafia and be part of something like the Vongola, then it was up to him as well to protect her integrity and innocence, no matter what it cost him. If Haru was going to become part of the family's business and work under his command, he was going to ensure that she did not get blood on her hands.

Because, if anything, he would never be able to look himself in the mirror if that happened.

He was going to make sure that Haru and everyone in his team was going to have a good life, and not be ruined by the likes of people like himself.

Even if it would cost him his blood.

* * *

"_I'm not listenin'_

_Not anymore._

_The more I learn_

_The more I know_

_I'm not listenin'_

_Not anymore._

_The more I prepare_

The more I know…"

—Papa Roach in "Not Listening"

* * *

To be continued…

* * *

Please review! :-)


	3. Planning For the Future

**Title:** Under the Endless Sky

**Chapter Title:** Planning for the Future

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character(s)/Pairing**: Sawada Tsunayoshi. Miura Haru. Dino Cavallone. Reborn. A little Gokudera and Yamamoto. Eventual TsuHaru, 1896.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/Romance

**Rating:** PG-13 for combat violence and blood, including broken bones and second-degree burns (might become R later because of combat violence and blood and gore and psychological themes)

**Warnings:** For slight mention of past broken bones and burns. And Gokudera's mouth.

**Summary: **It never occurred to him that he was actually going to have to kill sooner or later…[from Ch. 256 in the manga, eventual TsuHaru, 1896]

**Beta:** Audriel (she also betaed When Spring Fades AND chapter 1…now, if only I can find a way to write that onto those fanfics…;_;)

* * *

**A/N:** I'm back, everyone! And, though I still might be somewhat limited to not going online until at certain hours…I can write more this time around. Yep. That said, thank you so much for your patience, folks. I am glad to have you guys as readers.

Enjoy! So far, I think this chapter is living up to my expectations. I just hope that it lives up to yours as well…

* * *

"_The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time"—Mark Twain_

* * *

Chapter 3: Planning For the Future

* * *

It never occurred to him that he was actually going to have to kill sooner or later.

The books were full of words about executions, records of murders, assassinations and attempts of manipulation and everything that even the conspiracy theories couldn't predict in the scope of what was horrifying. There were records of torture and broken souls and how the status quo was a result of such deliberate and grotesque use of force, and it was from here that Tsuna wondered whether he should be thankful that he wasn't born at such a time or whether he was better off amongst one of the dead instead of having to be part of the bloodshed.

Of all things that Tsuna had expected, mass murder was not part of the plan.

It was not something that he grew up with and agreed to do as far as he thought of his future, for his status as a mafia boss-to-be was something that he had always thought of as a far away nightmare—not imminent and close as Reborn had suggested.

"You are going to have to make the decision soon, actually."

"Huh?"

"The truth is," Dino continued solemnly as he gently placed a hand on Tsuna's shoulder, "responsibility was never something that was meant to be part of what we wanted. Neither you—nor I when I was your age—wanted to become a mafioso or anything of the sort."

"…you…didn't?"

Dino smiled bitterly, "Yes."

Tsuna paused for a moment to think about his older brother mentor's words. The fact that Dino-san had to take up the reins as the Cavallone mafia boss meant that he had in his time been forced to give up on living as a normal human individual, for one. Mafia leaders were never meant to have the same lifestyle as ordinary men, due to the fact that their family business often involved illegal matters and materials—including shipping weapons, protection for the Italian public due to the fact that they didn't have a stable government, and plenty of other kinds of business that he couldn't bring himself to think about. The worst part, Tsuna decided, was when he realized that the Vongola had a hand in all of these matters and could not run without the mafia boss, and it was then that he realized just how terrified he was of this future—this world that he would have to dirty his hands with innocent blood and despair in.

He was born into a family of darkness, a family that knew nothing except to gain power for the sake of its growth.

He didn't know whether to laugh bitterly or cry.

Tsuna looked up from the translated records and took a moment to see how Haru was doing, and noticed immediately that her features had a dark expression on them. It wasn't surprising, really, considering that Haru—though she knew what a mafia was—didn't know about the Vongola's history. The most prominent families of the underworld were those that kept their names secret except to their own and to their customers, and they were expert at wiping their records off of the history books of the nations across the world to ensure that no one knew of their work and activity enough to know how to stop them.

No one, not even the national governments of the world, were capable of finding the means to destroy the Vongola and its allies unless they knew about the existence of such a family. In fact, even if they knew, the chances of them finding the means to oppose the Vongola itself were slim, for there was so much corruption in each country that it was far too easy for the Vongola to slip some of its family members into the legislature.

It chilled Tsuna to the heart to think of the fact that he was part of such a blood-ridden history and born from such violence and despair. He didn't want to be part of something that was so terrible, and yet here he was—facing the reality of having to be the leader of all of such things.

It was far too cruel. What had he gotten himself into?

"…Tsuna-san?"

Tsuna looked up, and noticed that Haru had an expression that seemed to match the emotions he felt at the moment.

"…I—I think I need to take a break…"

Tsuna nodded tiredly. "I think I need one as well."

His words didn't even seem to affect the dulled expression in her eyes as she nodded, and Tsuna began to wonder if he would need to speak with her about what they had just read.

* * *

The two of them sat in silence as they listened to the sounds from the hallway—mostly Reborn and Dino talking to Gokudera and Yamamoto about leaving two guards in their stead, and Gokudera muttering sullenly about how he must always keep his eye on his "Tenth" and that he didn't need to go home and sleep. The muted voices seemed to echo somewhat against the walls, as if they were in a government building or spacious museum instead of the hospital. For a moment, Tsuna wondered if they were meant to think over the entire situation like this for the rest of the evening, then decided to break the silence.

"…I…I guess it's a reality that I will have to learn how to deal with."

Haru nodded quietly. "Same here."

"Wait, what?"

The dark-haired girl glanced at her hands in her lap solemnly, and then closed her eyes as she spoke, "Haru has decided to join the Vongola."

It took a split second for him to digest what she had said, and when he did, his eyes widened drastically and his chest began to hurt from the lack of air. "Haru—"

"Haru has promised Tsuna-san that she will protect him, so Haru will be a part of this mess as well."

Tsuna felt his hands clench as he felt a hint of an incoming migraine. "You know that the mafia work often involves mass murder, including innocents."

"…yes. And Haru will protect both the innocents and Tsuna-san."

"Wait, what—"

"Haru doesn't want to be part of the killing. But if she has to kill, she will kill those whose existence she believes will destroy Tsuna-san and the other innocents."

Tsuna sighed. He didn't know what to say to that, really. Even after reading a bit about the actual mafia, and she was still so stubborn and trying so hard to help him and everyone else…

"Haru, you really don't have to do this."

"Haru knows, and Haru is even more determined to give up her chance at living in a normal world for the sake of the safety and well-being of her friends."

"Enough." It was too much for him to take. His Dying Will was flaring at this point, and though Tsuna was unable to see his own eyes, he was pretty sure that he looked angry at that moment. "You deserve better than this."

"…hahi?"

"You deserve a better life than having to live like the rest of us here, Haru. If there is one thing I can never get over with myself if I were to let happen, it would be making you as corrupted as myself."

At the last three words, Haru jumped up and shouted, "Tsuna-san is not corrupted!"

There was a silence after that, and Tsuna began to place a hand up to his forehead. Damn it, he was getting too frustrated with himself. How was he going to handle this situation? And how can he find a way to let Haru be content without turning her into a mafioso with a ruined life.

If he were to allow that to happen, he will never forgive himself.

What's more, what can he do so that he could protect Haru's innocence without causing an argument?

Tsuna closed his eyes. Damn it…he needed a way to keep Haru away from all the bloodshed that will come around soon.

"What if…what if Haru told Tsuna-san that she could promise to not be corrupted by the mafia?"

"That would be nice…but the question is how to do that."

"…true."

Haru sat down on the side of the bed and sighed frustratedly. It seemed that she understood the fact that what they both wanted to do was going to be difficult. Chances were, though, that they could trust Reborn and Dino-san to tell them about the different options that girls could help out in the mafia without getting involved in the killings.

"Maybe…we can ask the others about what they know and so forth…"

The fifteen-year-old mafia boss-to-be thought for a moment. "Do you think that might work?"

Haru shook her head. "Haru doesn't know if it will."

Tsuna glanced at his hands. What good will it do if he were to find out about the entire mafia business and history and realize that nothing can be done?

"But if there is one thing Haru has faith in, it is in her friends."

"Eh?"

"Because Haru thinks that Tsuna-san can make the Vongola a better organization."

Tsuna blinked. "Wha—what do you mean?"

"Tsuna-san, did it ever occur to you that, if you were the leader, you might at least have the power to change what the Vongola does to an extent?"

"You mean…I might be able to change the Vongola?"

"No one ever said that mafia families can't change…" Haru replied.

_She had a point there._

Tsuna nodded, though hesitantly, and thought to himself for a moment. So, they were going to have to figure out a way to avoid the problems that they wanted to steer clear of the most—which involved the everyday actions that the mafia family took to ensure it's power and influence. The least they would need to do, though, was to find out the necessities that the average mafia member would have to go through in order to survive, for it was unlikely that either he or Haru would be capable of being a citizen of the underworld without knowing the basics. What's more, they would have to find out about what part of the mafia business that they didn't want to be part of—the parts that made his blood run cold and made Haru look so scared. It was necessary for understanding how they were to plan the entire thing out so that nothing went wrong with their hopes.

"Haru was told at one time in her life…that if someone wants something badly enough, they can get it."

Tsuna turned to her and glanced into her eyes. For the first time in all his years of knowing her, he saw something unusual, something that was much more serious that he was used to seeing on the features of the same girl who he always saw as silly and random and bubble-headed. For the first time, he found himself looking at a Haru who had sorrow, fear, anger, determination and calmness all written in her eyes.

For the first time, he began to realize that he had been wrong about someone he knew for at least two years.

Very wrong.

"Haru may not know everything in the world, and yet…"

She was…so much wiser than he had ever given her credit for.

_So much stronger._

"…Haru thinks that the Vongola can become a better organization and improve the world even if it is a worldwide mafia family."

It was then that Tsuna found himself staring, and looked away. Gad, he was spacing out so often recently. To his surprise, however, Haru didn't scold him.

Instead, she took up one of his hands gently, and looked straight at him.

"Haru will do everything in her ability to fight with you for that goal."

Tsuna blinked at her determined words, and glanced back into her eyes. She was being serious—serious enough to be someone willing to fight for the future altogether.

And despite it all, he couldn't bring himself to be thrown off by such determination, because he knew that she meant well.

Tsuna felt a strange emotion well up into his expression, and he found himself smiling.

It was then that both of them realized what they must have looked like, and Haru began to blush and placed his hand down immediately—though carefully to ensure that he didn't have to feel any more painful than he already was.

"…t—that is…if Tsuna-san wants…"

"Erm…okay."

The silence that followed was mostly of awkward embarrassment and quiet understanding, and Tsuna decided that perhaps he was more embarrassed by the fact that people could have mistaken the two of them for a couple than the fact that the two of them looked like a couple. He shook his head at the thought, picked at the bandages around his hands, and decided to break the silence.

"Well, at least we now know what we are looking for, right?"

Haru nodded contentedly. "I'll ask Bianchi-san about the mafia later on, in case she does know about the business."

"Right."

"And now that the two of you have decided, won't you fill in what we have missed?"

Tsuna jumped mentally, and turned to the door. Sure enough, Reborn and Dino were at the doorway glancing at them with amused, tell-tale expressions on their faces. Gokudera, as usual, was glowering behind them at Haru for talking to Tsuna so secretly, and Yamamoto stood nearby smiling nervously.

"…D-Dino-san! I can explain!"

The edge of Dino's mouth quirked as he replied sarcastically, "_Suuure_."

"We're just thinking over…um…"

"—what role she can play in the Vongola? We know. Now, the thing is, what have you decided on so far?"

Tsuna bit on his lip and glanced at Haru uncertainly, who looked back at him in the same hesitant manner. Damn, this was going to be difficult to say, even though he didn't plan on hiding anything from his self-assigned tutor and his mentor. The thing was, however, that he didn't like the idea of being any standard mafia boss. He wanted to be something that didn't require him to destroy his own morals and throw his life into ruin. He wanted to be someone who could live without taking away from others.

That and…he wanted Haru to live without having to destroy her own morality.

"That's going to be a bit impossible."

"Damn it!" Tsuna jumped at the sound of Reborn's words. "Do you even need to read my mind?"

"It's written all over your face, Tsuna. You want to be a normal nobody? That is irresponsible of you. Get real."

Tsuna sighed. "Well, it's not like I want to kill people to get what I want."

"That might be possible sometimes, but you're still going to be a mafia boss anyhow."

"…alright."

"That said, you've been changing quite a bit lately. Before, you completely objected to the idea of a mafia boss, but now…he seems to be somewhat more accepting of the status, isn't he, Dino?"

"Indeed, he is."

"Of course he is! He's the Tenth! The Tenth is amazing!"

Tsuna sighed. "That's because I really don't…have a choice in the matter, do I? I mean…"

He looked at Haru, who nodded at him to indicate that he continue, "if I don't become the future Vongola mafia boss, then there aren't many other choices in the world at this point in time and there will be many people who end up being ruined for life…right?"

"That's right," Reborn replied.

"So, if I don't step up to the plate, I might end up hurting a lot of people."

"Exactly."

"But, the thing is, I don't want to hurt people when I become a mafia boss! Really…it's not nice of me if I have to take their lives, and…and…"

Tsuna stopped, and glanced at his hands. What could he say in a situation like this? He really didn't want to end up like the other mafia bosses in the history, with so many "executions" and "mistresses" and so forth. It was just…so far away from what he had thought of as necessary for a human being to live by and so different from what he was taught in terms of what a decent individual was that he couldn't get into it.

"Well…you're definitely making progress, Tsuna. The fact that you are willing to take up that responsibility and understand it shows that you do have the potential to become a mafioso."

"…we'll see."

Reborn smiled mysteriously. "Well, I've got news for you and the rest of the Guardians. I've already told Gokudera and Yamamoto, so that should be enough to let the others know. We're going to have another trainer come in soon."

Tsuna's eyes widened as he realized the implications. "Wait…what?"

"She's an acquaintance to I-Pin, and though she is a member of the most powerful Hong Kong Triad, she is also an important ally to the Vongola. The Ninth recommended her to us."

"Hahi! Tsuna-san is going to have to train even more?"

Tsuna looked out of the corner of his eye to see Haru becoming paler by the minute and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Haru, it's okay."

"B—but—"

"She isn't going to force me to train myself right away, is she?"

"I hope not."

"Actually, she'll be here right when you go back to school," Reborn smiled, "She is going to strengthen your combat skills and strategic thinking so that you will be ready to go to Italy by the time you graduate from high school."

"What?"

"Hahi?"

"Wait, Tenth is going to Italy in two years?"

"Tsuna…is going to have to go to Italy?" Yamamoto asked. "Interesting."

"Wait, this is too soon! If I have to go to Italy when I'm ready, shouldn't I wait until I'm twenty-something before I go?"

"That's because you'll be ready by the time you're eighteen, No-Good-Tsuna," Reborn smiled calmly, "Almost every Vongola mafia leader began training in Italy when they graduated high school."

Tsuna bit on his lip nervously. So, he had two to three more years before he would have to begin fighting in a system that would either make him a mafia leader—one that he wasn't sure he wanted to be—or break him completely. It was something that he didn't look forward to, for he knew that attending the school in Italy in the mafia world would involve having to stand his ground against all sorts of manipulation and everything else that he knew could destroy a person. The mafia world was not a tame one, for it consisted of criminals who knew how to escape the government's will. He realized that most of his peers had more experience in dealing with such problems than he did, and chances were that they would try to gain things from him if he wasn't careful.

"Haru thinks that is too soon!"

He had to agree with her there; it was coming too soon and far too quickly.

"I agree! Tenth should at least be somewhat older before he goes to a place like that!"

"Wait, it's not like he will be going alone there, right?" Dino asked.

"Nope. He's going to need a translator and his Guardians."

"Haru will go! Haru can be his translator!"

Tsuna blanched. "Haru! No! If you go, you're almost certainly going to…to…"

_To become corrupted like how I am destined to be._

Haru turned to him determinedly and looked him square in the eye, "Haru will protect you and everyone else. Haru will make sure that nothing goes wrong so that Kyoko-chan won't feel bad about anything when she sees you and her brother and everyone else."

Tsuna winced. "Haru, are you really sure you want to go there instead of fulfilling your dreams? I mean…don't you have something you want to do outside of being with us?"

"The Tenth's right, stupid woman. You're better off staying here and going to a university."

"That can be fixed, Tsuna," Reborn piped in. "The Vongola library has most of the world's books in its archive, and just about every journal and news article and ancient text that she would find helpful. She and your other Guardians can definitely study anything there when they go with you."

Tsuna hesitantly thought for a moment. "But…is there a way for her to be protected so that she won't have to worry about being attacked?"

"You and the other Guardians shall be her protector. Or if you have to attend classes when she doesn't, she will have to learn how to fight on her own."

"B—but…"

"Hahi! Haru can learn martial arts and how to fire a gun!" The dark-haired girl nodded happily at him. "And, though I might not have a flame yet, I think I can at least keep the other people away from me."

"And, what do you think you are going to do? Scratch their faces?" Gokudera muttered sarcastically.

Haru blew a raspberry at Gokudera, which only made the dynamite specialist twitch angrily. Reborn and Dino smiled, and Yamamoto laughed.

Tsuna sighed. So, not only was Haru going to translate for him in the future, she was going to need to learn how to defend.

Somehow, he had a bad feeling about all of this…he just hoped that he could make the right decisions to ensure everything was okay…

* * *

It turned out that Gokudera had nothing better to do, so the Cavallone mafia boss left one of his other subordinates at the door with Reborn, who suggested that Yamamoto escort Haru home on the way. She had, as usual, protested that her home wasn't too far from where the hospital was, but Tsuna told her immediately that he wanted to ensure her safety all the time if she was to be his translator.

_The problem is, it's going to be necessary in the future._

Haru frowned. So, chances were, there will already be people who wanted to make problems for Tsuna-san eventually.

"You're still worried, aren't you?"

"Eh…yeah, I guess. Thank you for the concern, Yamamoto-san," Haru smiled nervously.

"No problem. I'm really thankful that you are willing to think for Tsuna so much."

"Hahi! It's really nothing, Yamamoto-san. It's just…well, something I should do."

"Haha…I see. Well, whatever you do, just don't overdo it, okay? It's just a game."

Haru thought for a moment. In some ways, Yamamoto was right. The mafia was somewhat like a game if one was truly a player in it.

Either one won or lost.

Nothing in the middle.

"Are you okay?"

"Hahi?" Haru looked up. "Um…yeah! I'm fine."

Yamamoto blinked. "Well, you looked really serious back there. Typically, you are happier than that, so…don't lose yourself into it, okay?"

Haru smiled. "Okay!"

"That said, though, why did he end up with a broken leg?"

Haru felt the edge of her smile drop, and quickly forced another smile. "Tsuna-san tends to train really hard, I guess. Haru is sure, though, that Tsuna-san needs to train, so she doesn't question more!"

"Oh, I see…haha…so, there's going to be more trouble in the future, isn't it?"

Haru stopped. Wait, did Yamamoto mean to imply…

"…it almost seems that every time he trains, Tsuna and the rest of us end up having to be in a fight somehow."

Haru nodded and felt her heart stop. So…she was right, then. Reborn had trained Tsuna to exhaustion for a reason.

And, that reason probably had to do with future fights that Tsuna might get into.

Future fights that Tsuna might have more trouble with.

Haru glanced forward determinedly; she was going to make sure Tsuna didn't have to handle more trouble than he could. She was going to be part of this team that will serve the Vongola for the sake of Tsuna-san's well-being.

She was going to learn how to fight and translate for Tsuna's sake.

And nothing was going to stop her.

* * *

The next few weeks passed by normally, though it also consisted of her and Tsuna and three of the other Guardians having to learn how to read Italian and other languages whenever they went to visit the hospital. Reborn, as usual, had said that they all needed to learn Italian for the sake of the family—enough to greet and speak on ordinary terms with the other individuals they would have to interact with in the future in the mafia.

And for that, the six of them were currently sitting around the bed where Tsuna sat up on, and reading the different textbooks on languages.

"Extreme! So many awesome languages out there!"

"Hey, Gokudera-kun, what does this say?"

"It means 'to be'! It says so here, you idiot!"

"Hahahahahaha…sorry about that."

Haru smiled; it was so nice to actually be with these people and not feel like an outsider. She used to cook for them solely for the sake of seeing Tsuna-san, but now she was actually becoming a part of their group.

Still, that didn't mean that everything was absolutely peaceful and quiet.

"If you don't keep reading, Tsuna, you're going to force more of your own burden onto others. That and…I'm going to have to kick you again in the face."

Tsuna snapped to attention immediately, and Haru wondered for a moment whether it was due to both of those reasons that Reborn gave that he was trying so hard—despite the fact that the material seemed to bore him. The fact was that he didn't have much to do outside of reading the textbooks in case he could catch up to the homework later—since his arms were mostly immobilized—probably made it more interesting for him, but otherwise she didn't quite understand why the material didn't incite his interest very much.

Something was on his mind.

Either that, or he was having the usual problems with studying.

Haru frowned. If she was going to have to study as his translator, she might have to teach him herself, since she was—at least, according to Reborn—already getting very far in the Italian language. Though she didn't mind studying and helping him with his work, it was worrisome that she and Gokudera-san had to help him through so many academic subjects. For a split second, Haru wondered if Tsuna had a learning disability.

Wait, no…Tsuna-san had learned how to fight—without her noticing—with those gloves on. Tsuna-san had learned how to defeat the Millefiore with his flames and with the assistance of his friends.

Tsuna-san had, also, learned how to find the purer form of the Sky flame on his own.

There was no way Tsuna-san had a learning disability, Haru decided determinedly.

There had to be a reason why Tsuna had so much trouble in school and sports.

Haru stopped for a moment, then scribbled a note to Tsuna asking him whether he had time in the early afternoon of Saturday and Sunday. She then passed it to him under the book cover, nudged him on the shoulder, and kept on reading.

Not long after, Tsuna-san passed another book to her, and underneath the cover was a note that said:

_Probably. Though, we're going to have to figure out a time where you and Gokudera-kun aren't together. The two of you argue too much._

Haru smiled slightly. It was true that she and Gokudera Hayato tended not to get along as well as she did with the others; though they had a sort of grudging mutual agreement to help Tsuna in every way they could, Gokudera-san often saw her as a magnet for trouble and an obstacle that Tsuna needed out of his way very often. What's more, every time they were in the same study group together, the two of them would get into arguments far too often to get enough studying finished. She turned to Tsuna—who nodded at her—and wrote more onto the paper.

_How about Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM?_

She then slid the paper under the cover, and gave the book to him. Tsuna quietly took the paper out, skimmed over the words quickly, and wrote the following words before passing the note to her.

_Okay. 2:30 PM Sunday it is._

Haru nodded. So, that will be the time when she can help tutor Tsuna-san one-on-one and talk to him more often about everything. She would have only three hours to do so, however, because it was often right at that time when Gokudera would show up after school to guard his beloved "Tenth" for the day. Other than that, Yamamoto would show up at around four to bring in Tsuna's homework, and Haru knew that her being around Tsuna too often would cause a little suspicion.

She wasn't, after all, his girlfriend.

She was going to become his wife, but she wasn't there yet.

Haru brushed aside the unhappy thoughts and glanced through the next set of vocabulary words and verbs that she needed to remember. So far, it seemed that the European languages were interconnected due to the fact that they all had about the same origins. The few exceptions that she could come up with were the Latin and Greek languages. From what she could tell, however, many scientific terms and sayings from the West involved Latin due to the fact that the Roman Empire was once the dominant civilization in the ancient times of the Western world, and Greek was used mostly for philosophical and other text from the ancient days.

All in all, she had learned a bit of Italian, English, French, German, Russian, Greek, Latin, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. For a moment, she had thought that it was unusual that a mafioso translator in the recent times needed to know Chinese, until she remembered that there were plenty of triads in Hong Kong—and quite a number of others in Taiwan.

It was such a bleak world that she lived in.

Haru sighed. It seemed that there was no place that was untouched by a mafia underground society—even the Japanese society had yakuza—and the implications of the fact that the world was run mostly by these organizations made her blood run cold. A world of crime was not something that she was taught to be considered a good thing in terms of morality.

She wondered briefly what she would say to Kyoko-chan if she were to have to tell her friend the truth about the mafia. It seemed that she was going to have to explain that it was mostly a morally bankrupt world that they lived in, that they will be constantly in danger all the time, and that they needed to find the means to defend themselves if they were related to the mafia. Still, the thought of making Kyoko feel the same fear that she did made her wince.

She didn't want Kyoko to feel that way.

She didn't want any of her friends to feel that sort of fear—the fear of realizing that they were in an unsafe situation.

Haru's eyes darkened. She was going to make sure that nothing went wrong this time around. She was going to ensure that everything was okay, and that her friends will never have to live through hell.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

Please review!


	4. Speed of Sound

**Title:** Under the Endless Sky

**Chapter Title:** Speed of Sound

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character(s)/Pairing:** Sawada Tsunayoshi. Gokudera Hayato. Miura Haru. Dokuro Chrome. Eventual 2786 and 1896.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/General/Crime/Romance/Family

**Rating:** T/PG-13.

**Warnings:** Not much for now. Except that this fanfic doesn't completely follow the canon after chapter 256.

**Summary:** The world as far as his Tenth understood and knew was ending, and he couldn't do anything about it. [AU from ch. 256 in the manga, eventual 2786, 1896]

AU to chapter 256.

**Beta:** Major, major thanks to Audriel from and Fira525 from BleachAsylum. ;) You guys know who you are.

* * *

A/N: So, after a long time of delay and serious aggravations and frustrated attempts, I have finally finished the fourth chapter for you all. The fifth will come soon after, though I can't guarantee that the chapters afterwards will follow as quickly, unfortunately. As shameful as it is to say, I don't control my own schedule. My parents are the ones who decide that right now, and yet they don't really care much about my writing life.

Oh, well…that will change in the Fall, I promise, and by then, I will write like the wind!

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

"_No one remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself."_

—Thomas Mann

"_You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."_

—Alan Alda

* * *

Chapter 4: Speed of Sound

* * *

The world as far as his Tenth understood and knew was ending, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Gokudera glared at the ground as he took a drag from his cigarette break, then lifted his head and turned his eyes toward the cloudless morning sky. There were many things that would change in time, and yet he wasn't exactly complacent with the idea that the Tenth would have to adhere and change all over again in time to the rhythm of the mafia. As far as he knew, Tsuna wasn't the kind of individual who allowed himself to be adaptable to crime and to sign death certificates simply, and then there was the problem with the idea of being a leader of the world's most powerful crime organization.

In a lot of ways, he wondered if the new trainer that would show up can be as capable as Reborn in certain matters regarding the overseeing of Tsuna's mafia don-in-training process. From what the arcobaleno had told him, there were at least certain problems that Tsuna had to deal with in order to obtain and maintain the position as the Tenth Generation Vongola leader without too much strife—mostly regarding a serious lack of ambition and understanding of how the world worked. Unfortunately, Tsuna wasn't very keen on listening to anyone in regards to his school grades or any accomplishment whatsoever that didn't involve lawn-head's ignorant little sister. Try as he may to ignore the implications of these issues, the silver-gray-haired dynamite specialist didn't think that such problems would go unnoticed by any enemies of the Vongola.

Simply put, his Tenth was still far from ready to become the Vongola Decimo, the _Cielo_ of the underworld, kind and generous and leader-like as he has been. The underground scene of Italy was complicated enough already—full of manipulative imbeciles and power-hungry bastards who would take any advantage they can get out of someone like Tsuna. The Vongola, thankfully, had a cleaner record than most families in terms of dealing with power play, but Gokudera wasn't sure how likely it was that Tsuna would be able to handle such people—inside and outside the Vongola family—at the rate that he was going now.

The worst part, however, was that he didn't know how to speak of all of these concerns with Tsuna. He didn't know if Tsuna would even listen to him.

Gokudera took a breath, and placed the cigarette back to the edge of his mouth. As far as he had heard from Reborn, the lady who would be training Tsuna in the next two years was quite a taskmaster. She had a history with one of the Hong Kong Triads that the Vongola had once fought with at one time, and was one of the leading destructive forces against that particular family. What's more, her background spoke of having been brought up in the streets, and her records were full of executions that made the young Storm Guardian wonder if she had a grudge against the world.

He had seen her picture before one time when Reborn showed it to him. There seemed nothing out of the ordinary in her photograph, for she dressed and stood like any ordinary person. There was something particularly off, however, about her eyes.

They had a gleam to them that came through as almost cruel, as if she couldn't wait to torture another living human individual.

Gokudera bit on his lip and narrowed his eyes. If she were to try anything funny on Tsuna, he would make sure that she didn't stay alive. He knew the rules of the underworld, but he was not going to stand by and let this woman destroy his Tenth's spirit and happiness.

* * *

He didn't remember a time when he was ever capable of studying well or receiving good grades.

Tsuna closed his eyes and tried hard to ignore the pile of books next to him that came from school. Of all things that he had never learned to be good at ever since Reborn showed up at his doorstep, studying was one of them. He was horrible with mathematics, science and anything that required knowledge and studying in terms of memorization.

And no matter what, it seemed as though it will always be that ways.

The brown-haired teenager sighed and glanced out the window. The clock on his wall had indicated that it was getting close to 2:30 in the afternoon.

Which meant that Haru was going to be here in a minute or two. She had, after all, asked him if he was free on Sunday.

She always showed up, whether it was on time or a few minutes early.

_She was always there._

The fifteen-year-old mafia boss-in-training smiled amusedly and shook his head. There were times when he wondered why Haru dedicated so much time and so forth just to help him. He knew, of course, that she felt a bit of a crush for him, and he knew that she was a peculiar girl for wanting to help him despite his hopelessness at studying. It didn't explain, however, why she would still be so determined to help even when she knew he liked Kyoko-chan already.

Still, he appreciated her kindness, and wondered if he deserved so much of her attention. Such dedication from her was only matched by what his self-appointed right-hand man gave him.

"Tsuna-san! Haru's here!"

Tsuna broke out of his reverie at the loud announcement, and turned his head towards the dark-haired girl who bounded through the door. It was so typical of Haru to be cheerful during these times. He bit on his lip to refrain from chuckling out loud when Haru hahi-ed and glanced around.

"Don't worry, Gokudera-kun needed to go take a break for a bit. Reborn suggested it."

"Ah, I see…anyways, Tsuna-san, Haru is here to help Tsuna-san study!"

"…w-what?"

"Haru thinks Tsuna-san can study well if he has a good tutor! Haru thinks she could be a tutor!"

"B—but, Haru! I can't!"

"Hahi?"

Tsuna sighed. This was not going to be easy to explain. "Haru…I hate to break it to you, but…I'm not a good student."

"…why?"

"Haru…I think you know this, but…I'm bad at studying through and through."

The silence right afterwards was unbearably thickening, and Tsuna wondered for a moment whether he had said anything wrong. He braced himself for the usual current of protestations that he would expect from Haru or Gokudera whenever he would speak of his uselessness in anything, but nothing came.

The expression in Haru's dark-brown eyes turned to hesitance and a certain feeling that he couldn't name.

"Tsuna-san…why do you think that ways?"

Tsuna blinked. "Because…everything I've done before Reborn showed up was useless. I'm No-Good Tsuna, remember?"

"Haru thinks that No-Good Tsuna is an unfitting name for Tsuna-san."

"Yeah, I know…no, wait, what? What do you mean?"

"Haru thinks that Tsuna-san is NOT useless like he thinks he is."

Tsuna felt his eyes widen. Did she just say what he thought she said?

"Haru thinks that Tsuna-san can do anything in this world if he tries."

"…how can you say that?"

She glanced at him, and Tsuna found himself then looking straight into a girl who was absolutely resolute on helping him, no matter what. It was surprising, really, because he had not expected Haru to help him to this degree and to turn away from the fact that he was truly a useless person.

He had thought that he knew and could read her perfectly, and yet here he was being surprised again and again by her certainty.

"Haru, why would you say that I can do anything in the world if I try?"

"…because Haru knows that Tsuna-san is a person who deserves respect and happiness like anyone else…"

"That doesn't have to do with anything!"

"Yes it does! Tsuna-san, as long as you try, you can accomplish anything you want!"

"No! Haru! I really can't do that!"

"Why?"

"Because…because I really am useless…"

How was he going to explain this? He didn't want to disappoint Haru and make her see him for who he really was—a complete loser. But, he really didn't want to lie to her about his lack of capabilities. The fact was that there was never anything truly amazing or extraordinary about himself, and it would always remain that ways.

Tsuna rubbed his temples, turned directly towards Haru, and spoke.

"I've always had a horrible history in school, Haru. Ever since the day I stepped into grade school…I've been looked down on as a student. I have failed every single test from the teachers. And, I can't play any sport at all without getting severely injured and dropping the ball…heck, I can't even make friends with anyone without being used!"

As he spoke, he noticed the light gradually fade out of Haru's eyes, and her smile fell into a serious, contemplative expression. Pausing so that he would prepare himself to talk about his record, Tsuna took a deep breath, glanced straight into his friend's eyes, and emphasized the worst of his words.

"Haru, I've been useless for all of my life."

He stopped, and prepared himself to accept the consequences, the slight fear that his friend would suddenly see him for the loser that he is and walk away.

"Haru still thinks that Tsuna-san can do anything he sets his mind to."

"…w—what?"

"I say that, and I mean it. Haru knows that Tsuna-san isn't useless."

"…why?"

"Because Haru now knows that Tsuna is selling himself short."

"Huh?"

Wait…this wasn't supposed to happen.

_Why was she so supportive of him?_

The dark-haired girl sighed, and Tsuna found himself breaking that train of thought to glance at his friend questioningly. "Wait, Haru…why do you think that I'm not useless?"

"Because…Haru was just as useless before at one time."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Haru used to get mediocre grades in grade school."

"B—but, how? How could you possibly…you're from Midori, an elite school!"

"Because Haru worked really, really hard for it!"

Tsuna stopped. She did?

"Haru found out that schools are a system, and that systems require certain skills to make the students capable."

"Skills?"

"Yes. Study skills, memorization, recitation and so forth. Haru had to learn all of that the hard way!"

"Wait…what do you mean, studying is a skill? I thought…"

"Studying is a skill! And so is memorization and recitation!"

"Oh."

"Haru has found that students are not allowed to be creative in school, and there are almost no alternatives to studying the old, boring way. Because of that, Haru had to spend hours over books! As for sports…it takes serious practice, and Haru was never good at basketball or anything like that, either. In fact, Haru took extra training to get into the Midori gymnastics club! Just because she wasn't graceful at dancing!"

"…really?"

"Really! As for friends…Haru has no friends at her school, because everyone at her school thinks she is stupid and weird."

Tsuna blinked. "You're not stupid."

"Everyone at Haru's school thinks Haru is."

"Well, you're not."

The silence that passed between them after his words made Tsuna wonder. If Haru had no friends before she met him and Kyoko, what was it really like for her before everything happened? He paused, shook his head at the dark thought and asked Haru the most important question.

"So…you really think I can study well?"

"Yes."

"Even if my grades were always so horrible?"

"Even if his grades in the past weren't very ideal."

"Even if I'm bad at sports?"

"Even if Tsuna-san is bad at sports."

"But…so many people at my school think that I'm useless…"

"Haru doesn't care what those people think."

"…really?"

"Really! Tsuna-san should know better than to expect his friends to see him as No-Good-Tsuna!"

For a moment, Tsuna wondered whether he was dreaming. He didn't expect, of all things, to realize that the people around him, Haru included, cared about him more than he had previously expected. People already respecting him was one thing (for he was starting to get used to the idea of having some self-esteem), but having a friend one knows telling to his face that he didn't have to prove himself to be respected was something that he had always thought to be something that would never happen to him.

Is he so respected by his friends?

Is it true that he didn't realize just how much they cared about him in return?

"Tsuna-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Haru thinks that Tsuna-san can study if he wants. It doesn't matter if his past shows that he isn't too good at it…"

She faltered, and Tsuna felt slightly ashamed of the fact that she was trying so hard to stand up for him in this way. For some reason, he felt sorry that he was not good enough to live up to her opinion of him, and he wondered if it had to do with the fact that he wished that he truly could do more than earn failing grades.

"…because if he tries hard enough, he will study well and get good grades! And, even if he doesn't…Haru will teach Tsuna-san herself so that Tsuna-san will learn things! Because Tsuna-san is going to become a wonderful mafia boss and Haru will see to it that Tsuna-san's life prospers!"

Silence fell between them, and Tsuna began to wonder what had happened during his months of training. What had exactly given Haru and the others to have so much faith in him in the first place?

Was he really that worthy of such respect and kindness?

He thought for a minute, then reached out and took her hand. "Haru, I'm glad that you think I can study well one day."

"Of course, Tsuna-san can! He defeated Mukuro, and the Varia elite, and even Byakuran from the future."

Tsuna felt his smile drop a bit. "That's because Reborn was there with me all the time. Whenever I'm not with Reborn, it's…"

How could he explain this? He needed to say it, but…it was so difficult.

"Whenever Reborn isn't there to help me…I never really do anything right."

"Haru thinks that isn't true."

"What do you mean?"

"Haru means that Tsuna-san learned how to fight Byakuran on his own in the Future, and that not every aspect was exactly under Reborn's supervision, now, was it?"

Damn, she had a point there. Tsuna closed his eyes as he recalled that time when he got his Version VR gloves. Reborn had told him in only one sentence that he shouldn't always attempt to be a hero, and yet it was only when he had decided that he wasn't going to follow the standard traditional way of the Vongola—with all the sins and bloodshed that he had seen in there—that he obtained the new power. There was also that one time when he had, as a result of the Vongola Primo's acceptance, activated and completed the Vongola ring.

None of those times, he recalled, had Reborn been the sole reason for him achieving the status that he had now.

"I mean…if Tsuna-san can figure out how to harness his Dying Will and so forth in such extreme situations, he probably isn't as useless on learning and studying as he thinks. It's not so difficult, after all, to study compared to fighting a mafia war."

"Really?"

"Really. Haru promises Tsuna-san that such is true."

Tsuna glanced at his hands and tried to stem the pace of his thoughts. Though he knew that Haru was biased in her favor towards him, he also had to admit that her words were quite legitimate in this case and that she did bring up a good example. What's more, it was true that in almost every nearly hopeless combat situation that he found himself in, he managed to climb out away from danger once he tried hard enough.

Was it really true that the same could be applied in his life as well?

He had decided to inherit the Vongola—despite the darkness and bloodstains of its future—and had accepted the fate of his direction in the next many years, but…this was something else. This was something that he wasn't forced to do.

Instead, it was something that he had a choice on.

To become somebody without having to rely on his Dying Will flames.

To become more than No-Good Tsuna.

To become someone who had a future that was not mundane and near hopeless.

The prospect thrilled and frightened him. If he was to take this new path set up ahead of him and believe in himself for once, he would ruin his previous self-imposed image of being No-Good and being useless to the society. He would be able to gain everyone's favor—including Kyoko-chan's—and he would be able to walk with his head held high.

The most important thing, however, was that he would be able to change his past life into something more.

It was surprising, really, that he had a choice in the matter on his life.

Tsuna felt his heart stop. So, he did have some ability towards figuring out things, at least in terms of survival. But…if that was the case, how on earth was he going to figure out everything and so forth without Reborn helping him all the time? He did have Reborn there to help assist him down his path to becoming a mafia boss, but it was another thing really to decide on his own in terms of what kind of man he wanted to grow up into.

What kind of person did he want to be?

More importantly, could he really do this?

Tsuna felt the edge of his mouth go down a bit. "Haru, I really don't know about this…"

"Why not? Tsuna-san, if you want to become a mafia boss, you first must know more things."

Damn, she had a point on that.

"And you must prove to yourself that you can get better grades."

Also true.

"In other words, Tsuna-san, you must prove to yourself that you are not as 'useless' as you think you are. That you are capable of doing things."

"…but I can't do that."

"Why?"

"Haru…I know that you support me and all, but…"

What could he say? Just telling her that he was useless didn't work, even with all that evidence piling up. He needed to tell her why it was so difficult to change.

He sighed, then continued. "The thing is, I never felt like I could be useful before. I've never accomplished anything that I felt was worth the while, and I had to face all of that at school. Everyone there calls me No-Good Tsuna for a reason there, and in some ways, I've come to accept that."

"Tsuna-san SHOULDN'T accept that!"

Tsuna felt the edge of his mouth come up sardonically. "Really? Then why is it that almost everyone there, excluding Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun and Ryohei-senpai, call me No-Good Tsuna?"

"Because they don't know you! Tsuna-san, the fact that you yourself think you're useless is a result of a vicious cycle! You need to stop thinking that ways! Those people will stop thinking that ways as long as you try!"

"But I want them to think I'm useless."

"…Why?"

"W—well, I guess it's because I am scared of what will happen if I try to get out of it."

It was then that Haru stopped, and Tsuna immediately realized what he had just said. Damn it! How could he? He had just told her that he was a coward, and that he didn't dare try anything because he was afraid of being rejected like how he was in his earliest days at school. He watched in horror as he noticed tears at the edge of Haru's eyes, and a flood of emotions go across them in a way that he had never expected.

Determination. Fear. Sorrow. Anger.

_Anger? For what?_

He turned away and breathed out deeply. He didn't want to go back to those days anymore. He wanted to stay the way he was right now, because nothing will ever change if he didn't try anything. As long as he was a loser, he was accepted as one at the school, and not seen as an outcast.

Tsuna stopped, and felt his eyes widen. Was that why he felt that he didn't want to change? Was it because he was so scared of rejection and being looked down upon so deeply, that he didn't want to be looked down upon any worse than he already was?

"Haru doesn't know why Tsuna-san turned out like this."

"Huh?"

"Haru may not know everything about Tsuna-san's past."

Tsuna flinched, then nodded hesitantly. His past consisted of very few and painful memories in so many ways, especially at school, and he didn't quite like to talk about them.

"But, Haru wants Tsuna-san to know that it will only get better if Tsuna-san really works hard to get what he truly wants."

"Really? All those times I tried were times when I never did anything good."

"That was when no one was there to help you."

"Well…yeah, I guess."

"And that was when you believed that you will fail anyways all the time. Anyone who thinks that they will fail will absolutely fail anyways."

"Really?"

"Yes! When someone tries and doesn't believe in what they do, they don't work hard at all! Haru succeeded because she believed in and worked really hard for what she wanted! She got good grades because she ended up studying all those nights and practicing without thinking about making friends during that time!"

Tsuna stared at her. Haru…she really didn't make any friends just because she tried so hard on her grades?

"But, most importantly, Tsuna-san, Haru believes you can do all of that as well without not making friends."

Tsuna felt his heart stop. For once, he was getting an explanation on why he had not succeeded. If Haru was right, then he was capable. If Haru was right, then he was someone who could do something for once, even though his record didn't show much of that.

He had never ran into a situation like this before. In his earlier days before Reborn showed up, he had expected himself to become a lowlife and have no hope in his world of ever amounting to anything extraordinary. He had not realized back then that he was capable of doing more than that.

He had failed so many times in his early years, he had never looked twice at the reasons why he failed.

"Tsuna-san…Haru thinks that Tsuna-san shouldn't let himself accept pretending to be No-Good Tsuna, because it will only serve to make everyone who cares about him feel sad."

"Really? Isn't that how everyone feels about me already?"

"Of course not! Haru doesn't think that ways! Gokudera-san doesn't think that ways! Yamamoto-kun doesn't think that ways, either! Ryohei-senpai doesn't think that ways at all!"

She was right. He was definitely not doing himself or her or his other friends any favors by expecting them to be that ways.

He was not being their friend by expecting them to act like the rest of the world. He needed to be better than this. He was more capable than just being No-Good Tsuna, even if he failed at everything.

Failure. It was something he had expected for so long that the idea of leaving it behind was just ridiculous.

Except that it was right, that it was the right way to leave failure behind.

Tsuna thought for a moment, then sighed. "Haru, is it alright if I ask you to be my tutor and help me with this?"

"Hahi? Of course! Tsuna-san is welcome to ask from Haru about anything involving studies! That is why Haru decided to show up today at this time in the first place!"

He was such a fool. He had never realized that there were people around him who were willing to help him, people who were determined to see him be somebody.

Tsuna glanced up, and glanced determinedly into Haru's eyes. "If that's the case, I will study hard from now on with Haru as my tutor."

_Even if I fail again._

Haru beamed at him, and for a moment, Tsuna felt proud of himself for making her smile. He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake here, but somehow his intuition told him that he would be doing a big favor for himself and for his friends by taking such a step.

"That said, Haru, what do you think I should study for first?"

"Hm…Haru thinks that Tsuna-san should show her his list of things to work on."

"A list?"

"Doesn't Tsuna-san make a list of homework and tests for his classes at school?"

"Er…sorry, Haru. I don't."

"Hahi! No wonder why Tsuna-san doesn't seem to remember when he has a test!"

"Huh?"

"Tsuna-san! Haru will make sure that Tsuna-san gets a list of tests and homework for every single class from now on! That ways, it will be easier for Tsuna-san to remember when certain things are due!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Haru thinks that every one of her classmates make lists for their homework and tests! That is how I managed to attend Midori Middle school!"

"Wow…I didn't know that."

"Hahi…Tsuna-san must start by making a list of things he needs to finish every day!"

"Yeah. You're right, Haru."

"Of course she's right."

"Yeah, I know…Reborn! You were watching us?"

"Yep. Haru, thanks for the idea. I think I'm starting to decide on what it will take for Tsuna to actually get his mind in gear and stop being the worst student at his school."

"Hiiiiiii! Reborn! Don't do anything crazy!"

The arcobaleno smirked. "Too bad for you, No-Good Tsuna. Now that you've finally decided to make yourself a better student, I'm going to have to supervise and speed up the process so that you won't have to worry about your grades when your new trainer comes along."

"WHAT? Damn it! Why is it always me?"

"Because you're a mafia boss-to-be, Tsuna. The thing is, this new trainer of yours has high expectations on knowledge in terms of combat, and she will be expecting you to use your head more. What's more, she doesn't like it when her trainees are stupid and naïve."

"Hahi! Will this trainer be too harsh on Tsuna-san? Haru wants Tsuna-san to prosper, not to be broken up, Reborn-chan!"

Reborn turned to Haru. "Don't worry. He's survived through Mukuro and the Varia attacking him before. He'll be fine."

"B—but…Tsuna-san and the others can't just fight on his own!"

"That's right. Which is why I'm thinking of having you work by yourself a bit on something…" Reborn nodded as he pulled a paper drawing from out of nowhere. "Your job is to supervise the training Tsuna does while he isn't with his trainers, and to observe how every single one of the other Guardians fight so that you will find a way to help when there really is danger for the family. While that occurs, you will continue to work on your gymnastics and flexibility while beginning a regime of endurance and strength training on the side."

"What? Wait! How do you know that Haru does gymnastics? Have you've been watching her for a while?"

"Yes, apparently, Tsuna. Now, basically, Haru will need to learn how the system works in terms of the flame and non-flame user's perspectives. In her situation, she's mostly a non-flame user, and it is likely that she will need to learn how to dodge attacks first. The fact is that she doesn't have a valid flame in the Vongola's Guardian category, so she might have to practice with what she has for now. What's more, she will need to understand how combat works before she gets into the fights; that ways, she won't be jumping in at the wrong times."

"I see."

"There's even more, actually. Since Haru wants to be a translator, she is going to have to learn how to balance her time with school, language learning, and so forth. What's more, you did say that she was alright with being a strategist to an extent, so she will have to not only observe fighting but also learn a bit of military strategy and history."

"Hahi! You mean, Haru gets to read books like the Art of War?" Haru asked excitedly.

"Yes, indeed, Haru. You are going to need to read a lot of books like that so you will understand how the combat field works in reality. This is the responsibility and privilege of being part of the higher ranks of the Tenth Generation Vongola family."

Haru cheered, and Tsuna found himself smiling in amusement at seeing his friend jump in the air so happily. "I just hope that she doesn't have to do anything bad."

"She probably won't. For now."

Tsuna blinked. "That said, if Haru becomes one of my strategists…what would Gokudera do?"

"That's for you to decide. After all…no mafia leader has only one strategist."

"Huh?"

"I think you should remember this. Haru could be the _consigliere_. Gokudera, however, is determined to be your underboss, _E__l Capo Bastone_."

"…_Capo Bastone_?" Tsuna froze as he heard the Italian words for each position in the family. So, that's how they referred to themselves. Well, he wasn't exactly going to stay in Japan forever, anyways. He had a mafia family to run in a few years, and he didn't think that he was going to get to live an ordinary live anymore. What's worse was that the words felt so difficult to pronounce, and he didn't know if he was going to be able to speak in Italian well enough by the time he graduates high school.

"Heh. You're going to need to practice more."

"Reborn, will you stop reading my mind?"

"It can't be helped. You're horrible at expressing yourself in words so often."

Tsuna frowned at the arcobaleno's words. He had so much to improve with himself that he didn't know where to start first.

"The mind is the most powerful tool of all, Tsuna. You're going to join Haru in her reading of the Art of War from now on, and you're also going to have to set up a schedule that fits hers and the others as well. That ways, you will push yourself forwards further than you can ever anticipate."

Tsuna sighed, yet nodded. It seemed that he was going to have a lot to do.

But at least it was better that ways. He didn't want to go to Italy in two years without any sort of preparation.

* * *

The last dream she had was of a prairie where Mukuro-sama asked her about the future.

Chrome blinked drowsily in the light, and opened her eyes to the surroundings. Ken and Chikusa, as it seemed, were still asleep on their side of the room, and she was all alone again with the silent shifting of the leaves outside the windows. What's more, she could have sworn that she felt something tap her on the shoulder.

She turned her head slowly to the left, trying to keep herself from painfully pulling the muscles in her neck too much, and saw a small figure with a black fedora hat.

"Ciaossu, Chrome."

Chrome flinched, then blinked. After all this time, and she still wasn't used to getting such greetings from others.

"I have an offer for you."

Her questioning eyes and her blinking probably made the figure see that she was wondering what he was saying, and she could have sworn that she saw a slight smile on the infant arcobaleno's face. "Starting tomorrow, you will be training with Hibari Kyoya in the afternoon. Your allies in the Vongola need you to become stronger, and there will be dangerous people in the future who you will need to fight off."

Chrome felt her heart stop, then nodded quietly. She didn't want to question anything, but something felt wrong about the whole thing. The Cloud Guardian of the Tenth Generation Vongola ranks was not someone she associated with easily, even though he did save her in the future and made her continue living.

She hesitantly felt her mouth twitch as she asked the arcobaleno, "…why?"

"For reasons that you probably are better off not knowing."

Chrome nodded, albeit hesitantly. She knew that it was wrong of her to be curious of a mafia's workings, but it still made her wonder what was going on.

"In return, you will tell Rokudo Mukuro that your training as the Mist Guardian will continue as usual, but it will be done under the following conditions."

She blinked.

"First, that you will inform Sawada Tsunayoshi, his _consigliere_, myself and Hibari Kyoya of your training."

She paused, then nodded hesitantly. She wasn't very sure about informing or talking to more people, but she knew that her responsibility did lie with protecting Mukuro-sama and Boss.

"Secondly, that you will protect yourself and not interfere, not unless called for, and that your actions will be overseen by Hibari Kyoya and Tsuna's _consigliere_."

Chrome nodded again as she held onto the trident. She didn't know what was going on, but from what it seemed, the situation was going to change drastically like how it did in the future ten years later.

Something was wrong.

"Thank you. I will be leaving now."

Chrome blinked, yet nodded and watched as the small figure leap off of her shoulder and out the window into the trees. She was already a member of the Vongola's seven Guardians, but now it seemed that she was finally being assigned to a few tasks.

_**Kufufufu…It seems that something interesting is going to be on the horizon now, don't you think so, Chrome?**_

Chrome nodded. _Mukuro-sama, um…may I ask a question?_

_**Of course, my cute little Chrome.**_

_Why are they suddenly sending me to train with them?_

_**Because, my cute little Chrome, they need you to fight another enemy that is showing up.**_

Chrome nodded, but then wondered for a moment. If they needed her to fight, chances were that they wouldn't just ask her to train out of nowhere. From what she had seen, they had trouble showing up in the distance, and they were in dire need of support for it. If that was the case, the enemy that they were facing was possibly one that they would find more difficult than the ones they had met in the future.

And, if that was the case, she was going to have to be extra careful.

For Mukuro-sama's sake, and for Boss's sake.

* * *

To be continued…


	5. Morning Glory

**Title:** Under the Endless Sky

**Chapter Title:** Morning Glory

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character/Pairing(s):** Miura Haru. Sasagawa Kyoko. Yamamoto Takeshi. Sawada Tsunayoshi. Gokudera Hayato. Reborn. Eventual TsuHaru and 1896.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/General/Crime/Romance

**Rating:** T/PG-13 for now, M in later chapters for combat violence, blood and dark themes.

**Warnings:** Gokudera's lovely vocabulary.

**Summary:** The Monday morning was as cheerful as it could be. [AU starting from ch. 256, Post-Future Arc]

**Beta:** Major, major thanks to Audriel from and Fira525 from BleachAsylum. ;) You guys know who you are.

* * *

"_Seasons come and go_

_Nothing lasts forever_

_One more time._

_Love's not set in stone_

_The time is now or never_

_And you and I can make the world alive."_

—DJ Shah in "Now or Never"

* * *

Chapter 5: Morning Glory

* * *

The Monday morning atmosphere was about as cheerful as it could be, and yet Haru found herself far from willing to flip and jump off walls as usual. She had other priorities and problems…problems like what she could and probably could not tell her best friend about the Vongola.

Sasagawa Kyoko, the only girl her age who bothered to even talk to her.

Haru bit on her lip. She had made sure not to run into her best friend at the wrong times lately; though she didn't think that Kyoko would notice, she was sure that sooner or later her best friend would know that she had joined the Vongola family.

Sometimes, she wondered if the truth was exactly where the difficulty came from for Tsuna to tell Kyoko and herself the truth at the time. She didn't want to talk about the horrifying operations that the mafia world undertook—the details of the torture and the maiming and destruction of lives and happiness of people who refused to cooperate—and yet she was going to have to admit that she was now officially Tsuna's subordinate.

Then again, maybe that was all Kyoko needed to know. She could tell her friend enough to keep her out of trouble, to prevent danger from showing up at the girl's front door, or she could at least warn her when there were things she needed to watch out for.

Kyoko was, after all, her only girl comrade. She had no friends in the past before, mostly due to her speech patterns and problems with fitting in.

Thankfully, she had learned to accept that, and had found friends along the way, friends like Tsuna-san, Kyoko-chan, Yamamoto-kun and even that grumpy Gokudera-san.

She was probably going to have to inform her friend, though, about what they would need to watch out for.

That, or she could protect her comrade herself.

_Wait a second…that was it!_

Haru jumped up and cheered. She could stay with Kyoko more often, just so that she could protect her friend in case Tsuna had to fight again!

The question, unfortunately, was how she could do that?

Haru thought for a moment. She needed to learn how to fight, that was for sure, just in case Tsuna needed her to be in the fights and just in case Kyoko-chan needed a bodyguard.

_That and…she needed a weapon._

Haru blanched. She didn't really want to end up fighting like hell in the normal situations, and she didn't like the idea of having to kill. However, the implication that she would eventually have to protect herself and her friends made her even more determined. She needed to do this. She HAD TO do this, just so that they won't have to worry about her.

She was going to get a weapon. A real one, because she can't afford to fake one if the enemy she faces turns out to have a real one as well. She was going to have to learn to fight with a weapon, just in case she was needed to defend Kyoko and Tsuna and everyone else.

Haru pondered for a moment, then began walking straight to Kyoko's house. She needed to tell her friend a few things first, just in case she could make sure that her friend knew enough about what was going on. Kyoko deserved better than to be left in the dark completely, after all.

And if it was up to her, Haru would light up the darkness enough, so that her best friend could at least see.

* * *

Kyoko glanced out the window of her room, wondering about what had happened lately. So far, her brother had told her that things were going to be a little interesting soon. Though he hadn't said more than that, the light-haired girl wondered if the situation might turn out to be similar to last time when they all went to the future ten years later.

Then again, it had always seemed that everything changed ever since the day she became friends with Tsuna.

She had remembered that one time when Tsuna explained everything to her. A mafia family, he had told her, the Vongola, and the Millefiore family trying to destroy all of them. She had watched the changing tides of emotions in Tsuna's eyes—from the fear that they would all lose their lives one by one, the hope in his eyes that she would know about what happened, and the determination to set everything back to the way it was.

Needless to say, she was surprised.

For a mere boy, Sawada Tsunayoshi had a lot to explain.

She didn't, however, understand everything that he told her—the mafia part, at least—but she was at least glad that he was willing to tell it to her. She had read about certain delinquent crime organizations in Japan—known as the yakuza—and though she wasn't sure what they did for a living, the fact that Tsuna-kun was in one of these organizations made her smile and shake her head.

Who would have though that the boy was so extraordinary?

She remembered that time when Tsuna-kun had swept her out of the way of danger, almost effortlessly, and that time when he had that fire on his forehead and those burning gloves…and that time when he had told them to take care of Uni. It was all so fast, coming in so quickly, that she didn't know what to do or what to say.

Her world was changing so quickly, and she had not even noticed.

What's more, it was getting more and more dangerous, and though she didn't know how strong he was, she was sure that Tsuna-kun knew about it as well.

There was a lot of fighting from what she had seen on the TV screens, and though she didn't know what was going on completely, she understood when the situation was getting dangerous.

And yet, Tsuna-kun had managed to save the day.

It was all for the sake of good, in the end.

Kyoko smiled. She was losing her composure lately, but she felt happy that everything was going well.

"Kyoko! Your friend Haru is here to the extreme!"

She blinked. "Haru-chan?"

The petite, dark-haired figure at the front door pulled off her shoes, and cheerfully bounded up the stairs to where she was. "Kyoko-chan! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Haru-chan," Kyoko smiled amusedly. "How are you?"

"Haru's great! Better than ever!"

It was then that she noticed the rings under her friend's eyes, and Kyoko wondered for a moment whether her friend had slept well. "Haru-chan…are you sure you're okay?"

"Huh? Oh, Haru's fine, don't worry, Kyoko-chan! Haru just…read a few books last night, that's all. Ahahaha…"

"Books?"

"Yeah! Books that are on learning languages and everything Haru needs to be a translator. Oh, right…" Haru then stopped her chattering, and immediately her features fell into a serious expression. "Kyoko-chan. Haru has something to tell you."

"Yeah?" Kyoko blinked. It was rare for Haru to be so serious. Was something wrong?

"Haru…is…Haru is going to be…um…"

Kyoko then noticed that Haru's hands were shaking, and for a moment she swore that she saw a pained, almost resignedly sad expression within her friend's dark eyes. What was it that was so terrible to say to her?

"Haru is going to be a subordinate of Tsuna's mafia family one day."

"Huh?" So…that was what it was.

_Wait, what?_

"…yeah, Haru knows. It might not be as fun as being with Kyoko-chan, but Haru has to. The family needs Haru."

"…oh…" Kyoko felt something akin to uncertainty and doubt, then brushed it off and smiled. "Congratulations, Haru! I'm happy for you."

"Hahi? Why…why congratulations?"

"You have a job, right?"

"Huh, oh. Right. Yes, definitely."

"And Tsuna-kun is the boss, right?"

Haru nodded. "Yep."

"And, I know that Tsuna-kun won't do anything bad, right?"

"…yeah! Definitely! Tsuna-san will never do anything bad, trust Haru!"

It was only later when Haru left after talking with her about other things and going off to Tsuna's house that Kyoko began to realize what it was that she had felt at that moment.

It was worry. Worry for her friend and for the others.

Because whatever it was that seemed to be worrying Haru, it seemed to also be on the minds of the boys…

_Tsuna-kun…whatever you might be doing, please be okay…_

* * *

Haru walked to the end of the intersection and turned at the corner. That was close. She had almost allowed herself to let Kyoko find out about her feelings and everything that was going on. Gad, if she had really slipped up, if she had actually…

…if she had actually said everything…

It would have been disastrous.

Haru closed her eyes and thought of Kyoko's sunny smile, her happy-go-lucky spirit and her serene expressions. If the other girl was happy being the way she was, it was alright with her. The problem was, however, that her friend deserved to know a little of what was going on, and that she didn't know what she could say to her friend, due to the complications that everything could turn into if Kyoko was involved.

If Kyoko were to find out…if Kyoko were to know about the ugly truth of the mafia and how the Vongola would torture its enemies…

…it wouldn't be any different than destroying that happy smile.

Haru bit on her lip as she sadly walked on. She couldn't. She just couldn't tell her best friend everything. She couldn't…

"Haru!"

Haru looked up. "Yamamoto-kun?"

"Are you okay?"

Haru blinked, and realized that she had probably forgotten that she was walking towards the hospital. Oops.

She forced a smile onto her face, and walked past him. "Ah, don't worry, Yamamoto-kun! Haru is great!"

Yamamoto laughed. "Ah…okay."

_Whew, that was close._

"It's just that, well…you seemed so…lost in thought back there."

_Damn._

Haru quickly mustered herself to change the topic, "Say, how is Tsuna-san doing?"

"Ah, Tsuna? He is doing very well. I think he is going to leave the hospital in about another two weeks or so."

Immediately, her melancholy temperament went for the better, and Haru found herself feeling much more cheerful than usual. "Really? Yay!"

Yamamoto smiled. "I knew you would be happy about that."

"Aw, thanks, Yamamoto-kun!" Haru found her smile growing wider. "It's just that Haru is…glad to see Tsuna-san doing so well…"

"Yep."

"Say, how is everyone else doing, so far?"

"Ah. You mean…Gokudera-kun and Ryohei-senpai?"

"Yep."

Yamamoto chuckled. "They're themselves, as usual."

They walked straight into the hospital and continued talking to the second floor, where Tsuna's room was. When they got there, Gokudera leaned his back on the door and glared at the two of them.

"Oi, baseball idiot! Why did you show up late?"

Yamamoto smiled apologetically and placed a hand behind his neck. "…sorry, I had baseball practice."

"You…you idiot! Protecting the Tenth is the biggest priority for a Mafioso!"

"Gokudera-san! Stop yelling at Yamamoto-kun for the smallest things!"

"And what are YOU going to do about it, stupid woman? Mind your own business!"

"Gokudera-san should mind HIS own business!" Haru made a face, then marched into Tsuna's room with Gokudera and Yamamoto behind her.

"…Haru? Yamamoto-kun?"

It was then that Haru decided that perhaps she would have to reserve her anger for other people. "Er…good morning, Tsuna-san! How are ya?"

"I'm…okay, I guess…" He glanced out at the window and winced at the ray of sunlight shining in his eyes. "How are you guys?"

"I'm doing great, Tsuna!"

"So is Haru…though Haru thinks that Gokudera-san has anger management issues!"

"W—What? Since when did I end up having issues, crazy woman! You're the one who has mental problems!"

"Hahi! You're the one who is crazy here, idiot!"

Tsuna bit on his lip to refrain from chuckling. "Well…Gokudera-kun is…very intent on making sure everything goes well."

"Tenth!" Gokudera shouted in happiness as he took his boss's hand fervently. "I'm so happy that you recognize my work as worthy, even if it isn't!"

"Hahahaha…"

"Hahi. That's being nice about it, Tsuna-san."

Tsuna turned from Gokudera to see Haru pouting sullenly. "Well…I guess it's mostly in the intention, right, Haru? I mean, Gokudera-kun means well."

For once, Haru stopped, then nodded resignedly. "Alright, then. But, don't expect me to put up with his anger if he makes trouble!"

Haru watched as Gokudera growled and shook his fist at her. "What the fuck? Well, I'm not going to put up with your crazy ideas, either! They can get the Tenth in trouble!"

"Oh, and Gokudera-kun…"

"Yes, Tenth?"

"Haru is officially part of the family now, as you know…so, if her intention is good, it's fine."

Hahi? What the—

"Tenth! I'm so sorry! Sorry!"

"What the—Gokudera-kun, it's nothing, really!"

"Aw, hahahaha…Gokudera-kun, calm down."

"Shut up, baseball idiot! Tenth! I'm so sorry…"

Haru watched in bewilderment as Gokudera blabbered on and on to Tsuna about being apologetic—with Tsuna trying desperately to assuage him—and blinked. Notably, she knew that Gokudera was faithful to Tsuna, and watching the two of them interact over time had shown him to be genuine. Nonetheless, she didn't understand whether all Mafioso were expected to bow literally so often in front of their leaders.

"Yamamoto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Erm…is it true that I have to have such a distance from the Vongola family leader if I am one of the family members?"

"Huh?"

"I mean…do I have to be so distant from Tsuna and maintain so many formalities if I am a Vongola family member?"

"It depends."

Haru jumped at the new voice, and turned around to see a familiar small figure standing on the table.

"Reborn-chan!"

"Little guy!"

"Reborn!"

"Reborn-san!"

Reborn smiled slightly, and then tapped Tsuna rather heavily on the leg.

"Ouch! Reborn! What was that for?"

"To check if your skeletal structure has fully recovered. It appears that the timing is good for your training to come in another week."

"Another week? Reborn!—"

"What?—"

"Hahi! Another week? That's too fast!—"

"Wait, what?—"

Reborn smirked at the reaction of the four other people in the room. "It seems that you guys haven't been prepared enough lately, huh? Well…then…"

"Reborn, what do you mean?"

"I meant that you guys will have to start strengthening your stamina starting today."

"But, Reborn…I can't get up. There's no way I can walk—"

"That's why I brought in a lot of weights and machinery to your house for when you finally get back up." Reborn then pointed to the window, where a certain group of mafia family members came walking into the hallways with boxes. "Starting tomorrow, you all are going to prepare yourselves to make sure that the new trainer accepts Tsuna and the Guardians as her main students."

"Wait, do you mean that…there's going to be more fights later on?"

"Indeed, Yamamoto. There will be more dangers ahead of you and everyone else in this game later on, so it's better if you all prepare yourselves constantly."

Haru froze, and remembered what Yamamoto had told her at one time.

There was going to be more trouble in the future, which meant that there were more fights.

_More fights like the one that she had seen between Tsuna and Byakuran of the Millefiore._

"Haru, are you okay?"

"Hahi?"

"You seem a bit pale, Haru." Tsuna glanced out from the side at her concernedly.

Yamamoto blinked, then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Haru, are you alright?"

"Stupid woman, stop making the Tenth worry…" Gokudera muttered.

"Haru isn't stupid."

The three boys blinked at her, and Haru slowly yet surely began to find her voice. "Haru just wants to know WHY these so-called enemies are trying so hard to destroy us. Why are they so hell-bent on coming in and so forth and making everyone's life harder?"

"Because Tsuna is going to be initiated into the Vongola Tenth's position in three years."

Haru blinked. So…THAT was why. Little wonder why Tsuna had been so nervous yesterday. It was almost as if he had read through the books as though he would be killed if he didn't.

"Tsuna, you have other obligations here as well, you know. Like informing your new subordinate what is going on."

"…yeah."

So, there were more fights that would involve bloodshed, more fights that involved Tsuna-san and Gokudera and the others getting nearly killed if they didn't do enough to fight back.

Haru clenched her fists, and began to shout. "Haru just isn't used to having to see fights all the time and not be part of it! Haru may dislike fighting, and she doesn't find violence very interesting, but…why…why are there so many fights that will come around? Why didn't you tell me about anything? You all could have been killed! You all could have…"

She glanced at them angrily, and noticed particularly that Tsuna had a guilt-ridden expression on his face. Why was this going on? What was making everything so difficult for them to live in peace? Why is it that they had to constantly be on their toes for another fight to the death?

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier? That you will have to fight and get injured and not say anything…"

"…because we didn't want you to worry."

"That's why you're going to be part of this, Haru." Reborn broke in. "You're going to be part of the fights as well, just in a way that is safe enough for Tsuna and everyone else to keep an eye on you."

Haru glanced back at Tsuna, who nodded at these words. She felt winded. It was already too much for her to easily take in. It was…

"Don't worry, idiot woman. We're not going to hide anything from you anymore."

"Ahahaha…yeah. Haru, we've got your back if you ever need our help."

Everything that she wanted.

She was finally accepted, and she was finally going to be able to fight with them…

She was finally going to be able to protect her friends.

Haru sniffled, and felt a few tears slip down her cheeks, and vaguely she heard Tsuna panic and Gokudera curse. But, it was alright. She was going to make it. She was going to be able to help them.

For once, she was happier than she had ever been in her life.

* * *

"Haru, I need to talk to you for a minute."

Haru glanced concernedly over her shoulder, as Gokudera and Yamamoto looked at each other and walked out of the room with Reborn. So far, she had managed to be happier for the next few moments that she had never felt before, and now she was suddenly being called to speak to her new leader alone.

Tsuna-san. As the _Vongola Decimo_.

Haru plastered a smile on her face, set down the rest of the books into the shelves, and walked over.

"Yes?"

"…you didn't look that way a minute ago."

Haru felt the edge of her smile drop. "…yeah, I know."

Tsuna sighed frustratedly, and pulled his hand through his unruly brown hair. Haru watched for a moment as his thoughtful expression turned to something that was dead serious.

She gulped. She really didn't want to have to deal with being on his serious side; for someone who she knew for so long, he had a trenchant for being very dangerous-looking when he was so solemn.

"Haru…if there is anything you need, just tell me."

"Hahi?"

"I know that, well…it was probably difficult for you to not tell Kyoko much, so…"

Haru winced. So, he had known. Somehow, she knew that it would all come to this, and that she would have to ask him what she could and couldn't tell her best friends. Whatever it was, she knew that she was placing a lot at stake for speaking about the matters of the mafia if she were ever involved in the entire thing.

Though, she knew that she wasn't going to ever betray him in any sense of the word.

"Tsuna-san?"

Tsuna turned his glance at her, and blinked. "Yeah?"

"Is it…is it okay if Kyoko knows that…I'm in the family?"

She watched as Tsuna nodded calmly. "Yeah…I suppose…she has the right, even the obligation to know. After all…it will help her understand what is going on to an extent without making her know too much."

"Yeah."

"Haru…I was kinda hoping to say this later, yet…it seems that the mafia business is a bit difficult for you to handle at times…"

She winced at this mention. "Haru's sorry."

Tsuna waved his hands at her. "No, no…it's okay. I was just wondering, well…is it okay if you tell me instead of Kyoko about whatever it is that is bothering you?"

Haru blinked. Wait…what did he mean?

"I mean…is it alright if I…listen to what you have to say in case anything goes too far or too badly for you."

Wait…Tsuna-san was offering to lend an ear to listen to her.

It was just so kind of him that Haru found herself gaping at the boy in front of her. What had happened to make him so thoughtful? What was going on?

"The thing is, I've been watching how you react to what's been happening around everyone, and I noticed that the mafia workings might not be something you're used to yet, considering that you haven't quite gotten enough time to get used to the fights and all. Well, then again, the fights aren't supposed to be something one gets used to, but, that's not the point."

"Hahi?" Haru blinked. Had he…actually had been watching her?

Tsuna glanced at his hands. "I…know that I might not be everything that you expect in a good friend at times, since…well, I don't know how to always be a great friend and all. I didn't have any…friends in my early years, and I think you know that."

He then turned, and Haru felt her heart stop at the piercing, almost calm glance he gave her, "…but if you need to say anything to someone, please consider me."

She stood there, wide-eyed and gazing straight into his eyes. He had just told her that he was willing to listen to her later on.

That he would no longer not take her seriously.

And that he was going to consider her a real friend, instead of just an acquaintance.

Haru felt something strange at the edge of her lips, and when she looked up at Tsuna, she found herself smiling. Without reserve, without pretense, and without anything that would stain her hopes for the idea that the future will be well.

"Haru accepts. Haru will tell Tsuna-san everything when something bothers her."

* * *

Haru closed the door as quietly as she could manage. She knew that Tsuna-san was not very sensitive to noises when he slept, but courtesy was still something that she would have to keep in mind of. The fact was that Tsuna will eventually learn how to not sleep so heavily in the future when he is a mafia boss, and as a future Mafioso she would need to understand how to wake him up whenever she was called to do such a task.

She turned around, and saw Reborn staring up at her.

"Reborn-chan?"

"I take it that you resolved what was on your mind?"

Haru blushed at this mention. "Er…yeah, Haru guesses so."

"Alright, then." Reborn nodded as he turned to go to the hallways to call for Gokudera.

"Um…Reborn-chan?"

"…Yes?"

Haru felt a cold fear in her heart as she tried to force out a question that she had remembered to ask. "Erm…well…do you know anyone who can teach me how to use a weapon?"

"I was wondering when you would ask me that." Reborn smiled.

"Hahi?"

"It's not like I haven't been watching what you were thinking when you walked in here. You wanted a weapon to use, so that you would know how to defend yourself and Kyoko and the others, right?"

"…uh, yeah!"

"Then, I will definitely get you a weapon. Just remember, though, to meet me at Tsuna's house at 4:00 PM on Saturday."

Haru stopped. "Wait…you're really going to trust me with a weapon? But…I—I don't know how to fight—"

"That's where I'll find a person to teach you about that matter."

Haru blushed, then smiled, pumped a fist up into the air and cheered happily. She was going to definitely defend her friends from now on. She was going to watch out for everyone and ensure that she had no need of defending herself.

But, for now, she was going to go to school.

Haru ran over to where Yamamoto was waiting near the hospital entrance.

* * *

To be continued…


	6. On This Side of the World

**Title:** Under the Endless Sky

**Chapter:** On This Side of the World

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character(s)/Pairing:** Sawada Tsunayoshi. Miura Haru. Hibari Kyoya. Reborn. Introducing an OC named Zhang Ling. Eventual TsuHaru and 1896.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/General/Romance

**Rating:** PG-13. May become R in later chapters…though, that will be way later.

**Warnings:** Combat violence, Gokudera's wonderfully expressive vocabulary.

**Summary:** Zhang Ling glanced at Tokyo from the plane window.

**Beta:** Audriel from and fira525 from BleachAsylum (Tharrow). ;D

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A/N: So, I kinda got sick, so if there's anything wrong here, tell me. I'm kinda exhausted at this moment, and dealing with mountains of homework, so please bear with me here. ^^; So much to do, so little time…

Also, I might have to do chapter 7 quickly, since chapter 8 through 10 are going to be very critical. And if anyone has questions for me or anything to suggest, please email me or go to my new homepage on my profile (http colon slash slash fireinnovationlady dot blogspot dot com). Without the www at the front. ;)

Anyways, on with the series!

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"_Our potential is unlimited. Our inheritance is sacred. May we always honor that heritage — in every thought and deed."_

—Russell M. Nelson

* * *

Chapter 6: On This Side of the World

* * *

Zhang Ling glanced at Tokyo from the plane window. The sun hadn't come up yet, and she was already feeling far too bored of the fact that there was no one nearby to fight with. The fact that she had been asleep for the last five hours—and the fact that no one had attempted to steal anything—was slightly frustrating, though…considering that this is Japan, she shouldn't be surprised. Crime was stupidly low in this area, and she felt that it was likely she would have to raise hell in order to feel more like herself again.

It was too bad that the world was chock full of mostly naïve, stupid imbeciles.

She looked at the photograph of the Tenth generation chosen leader that the Ninth had given to her, and glanced over the expression of the boy. He was far too wide-eyed, far too stupid-looking for someone who would have the capacity towards becoming something at all in the underworld. Still, Ling knew that appearances could be deceptive.

Sawada Tsunayoshi.

_He doesn't look like much._

But, he had better NOT prove to be like that as well.

She narrowed her eyes. Well, it was better that he didn't look like much anyhow. Most mafia leaders tended to look like the least likely individuals in the world to be such people, and it was partly for such reasons that certain mafia families survived throughout the ages and certain families didn't. As long as he didn't prove to be a disappointment, she wouldn't mind if he looked like that.

So far, though, the eyes had a quality that made her a bit frustrated, due to the fact that they screamed of naiveté. She just hoped that he wasn't as bad as he looked.

Otherwise, she won't teach him. She would have little to teach him if he held onto his naivety for too long.

* * *

Something was wrong, and he didn't even notice until now.

And much of it had to do with that unpredictable—and naive—herbivore named Sawada Tsunayoshi.

The president of Namimori's Disciplinary Committee stared at the clear blue sky and closed his eyes. He had, as usual, asked Kusakabe and some of the other committee members to watch the door for him in case anyone tried to disturb his restful thinking. The most recent incident where he and a number of Namimori residents had been called to the future had been rather unusual, to say the least. What's more, he had been witness to several interesting facts that he did not know of before.

That the herbivores who surrounded Sawada had gone to the future and became stronger.

That the future was unstable compared to how he had predicted it.

Most of all, that Sawada Tsunayoshi was catching up in power.

Catching up.

To himself.

Somehow, there had been a shift in the difference of power and capability between himself and that weakling.

Hibari narrowed his eyes slightly, and poured another batch of birdseed onto the paper for his pet bird. He had been losing his ability to remain calm lately mostly because of what had happened with Sawada. He wasn't sure quite what to make of that unpredictable student—since the herbivore was often incapable of even injuring a fly in one moment, then suddenly going up in flames and fighting like a hidden beast the next. It was also somehow unspoken that his future self had somehow aligned himself with Sawada and the other herbivores, for he had noticed when the future Kusakabe and the others secretly went to speak to the rest of the missing group in the future. He had even noticed how his future place was linked to the so-called headquarters.

To say the least, Hibari Kyoya was slightly annoyed. Annoyed that he had been aligned with the herbivores. To his credit, though, Sawada Tsunayoshi had become stronger, and yet had not come to terms with his new strength. Said herbivore even had the nerve to show up to school and pretend to behave as though nothing happened, as though the future had been a dream and that he had no capacity towards combat and understanding the world.

It was as though the herbivore was mostly content to be called by his nickname of "No-Good" Tsuna for all his life.

And yet, there was a change. Somehow, because of the future incident, the herbivore had come back to the present time with a look in his eyes that spoke of doubt, fear and something akin to more responsibility. What the doubt and fear were, Hibari didn't care about, because it was the responsibility part that made him realize that Sawada Tsunayoshi had changed.

The herbivore was still an herbivore, as he could tell from how the idiot would stare at that idiot girl Sasagawa Kyoko as though she were a messiah, but there was something else there that he didn't quite see before.

The herbivore was now a leader. A leader who realized that he needed to, that he HAD TO make the decisions and be the leader for the group even if he didn't want to.

The problem, however, was that the herbivore wasn't willing to show his claws. For that, Hibari would be unable to fight him without starting trouble. For that, Hibari would have to wait until trouble shows up at his own door and prepare.

Which meant that, until it showed up, he had to be content with sitting here and waiting until five in the afternoon to fight and train another herbivore named Dokuro Chrome.

Hibari impassively allowed his thoughts to drift to the girl he would be training later that day. So far, she was rather weak for even most of the herbivores in Sawada's circle, and for that he didn't know what to think of except to stamp out that lack of fighting ability. The baby had promised him that the girl would one day be a match for Rokudo Mukuro's fighting ability, and though he wasn't sure if such was the case, the mere thought of meeting a worthy challenge and the idea of turning a loyal minion of Mukuro into someone with an independent mind made him step up to the task. For all he knew, Mukuro liked to make those weaker than him serve under him as tools for the sake of his own enjoyment, and the memory that Mukuro had once bested him made his blood boil.

He will not allow that to happen again.

He was going to take revenge on the bastard starting with this girl, this girl who supposedly worshipped the ground that her "Mukuro-sama" walked on. He was going to prove to Mukuro that not all herbivores under him would remain loyal, and that he was far more capable than the bastard had calculated at that time when flowers brought him to his knees.

He will make sure to break that bastard's hopes to possess the herbivore Sawada Tsunayoshi he himself was now threatened by, for he wanted to have the challenge grow until it became strong enough to face him in a fight. From what he had heard of what Mukuro had spoken to Sawada, the imbecile was thinking of attempting to possess the herbivore at his greatest strength in order to carry out his plans. The fact that this was Rokudo Mukuro's hope was enough for him to know. For that fact alone, Hibari was more than willing to bring such a plan to ruins.

* * *

He had made a decision a long time ago.

For all he knew, it could very well destroy him.

And now, there was no way to turn back.

Tsuna blinked in the Saturday afternoon light. Lately, he had been thinking more and more of the decision he made after destroying Byakuran's forces, and somehow the idea that his decisions could have so much impact was something he would never grow used to easily. He had only recently come to terms with the understanding that he had killed Byakuran—something that had taken a bit out of him in the last few months—and now he was facing the realization that such wasn't the end of all the darkness he would have to face.

_A mafia boss is a leader of an illegal, criminal organization._

He winced. He was going to have to break the law by trying to protect everyone in his circle of friends and family—something that he still needed to come to terms with—and yet already he was resigned to the position due to the necessity.

"_If I don't do this, everyone I care about will be hurt."_

Tsuna sighed. He had said that a long time ago, at a moment when he realized that Uni, the leader of the Giglio Nero ten years later, had sacrificed her life for the sake of his family and her own, mainly because he himself was unwilling to change the status quo.

He had been a fool. A fool who thought that everything will naturally go back to normal if he didn't care or take up any responsibility.

The worst part, however, was that he had not thought about it enough until recently.

It was so sickening of him. Sickening that he wouldn't take into account that he and everyone else on his side would face more of worse things to come. He just had to pick a time to understand that things wouldn't get better if he stuck his head into the ground and pretended that it didn't happen, didn't he?

It was time to change. Painful as it was.

"_Reborn…I will become the Tenth boss of the Vongola."_

It was those words that made Reborn and most of his friends smile and nod.

Tsuna gently placed himself back down on the hospital bed. Next week was the time he will leave the hospital officially, though he will still have to wrap bandages around a few injuries from time to time. What's more, he had managed to strengthen his arms and right leg and had, with Haru's help, managed to finish his homework.

It was all so fast that he didn't quite think he had caught up with the realization.

As it turned out, his greatest flaw in studying and homework had mostly to do with his planning and self-motivation. The self-motivation part he understood, mostly due to the fact that he was often too scared of being seen and heard outside of the norm—though he was starting to understand that it was not going to do him any good if he stayed that ways continuously. The fact was that he had chosen to protect his friends and family from the mafia world, and had decided to take on the responsibility for his heritage. Getting good grades was one step towards such a goal, difficult as it was.

After all, a real leader at least knew things and understood how they worked, right? Living a normal life was one thing, but living a normal life when one's comrades would suffer for such a life was another. He would never be able to live with himself if he chose to be ordinary at the cost of the people around him.

That and…maybe there actually was a way to change the mafia family that he will inherit, just like Haru said. Perhaps there was a way to alter and turn the course of where he would be going and where everyone who followed him will go, so that they will not be obligated to do horrendous murders, torturings and other actions often taken by the mafia.

He just needed to find out for himself.

The part that he had more trouble on, though, was the planning.

He had never quite gotten used to the idea of strategically deciding things in advance before; even now he had difficulty thinking about it naturally, which was a problem considering that he would need to study more in the future. He often preferred procrastinating—at least, that was what Haru often called it—and then there was the problem with him not paying attention in class due to the amount of time he spent daydreaming about Kyoko-chan. Haru didn't mention that second part much, though.

Altogether, in a couple of days, he had learned how to plan for the first time in regards to academics.

He had not known that, by planning one's time and carrying out those plans carefully enough, homework would be so much simpler to catch up on—even though he still really struggled with memorization and math. According to Haru, it was most likely that he had not done well on his tests and homework for several particular reasons, the main one being that he did not think ahead on time to do schoolwork or study often enough. Once he had gotten that fact, Haru had given him a planner and had spent an hour every day with him to plan for every single subject, class, homework and study session. When that was done, she took out a list of habits for studying in regards to each subject, and showed him where he had most likely gone wrong for every step.

He had promptly realized that his habits were quite effective in ruining his academic skills, alright.

He was, of all things, a major sleeper, and that meant he would have to sleep early for the day in order to ensure that he got the right number of hours of sleep for the sake of waking up on time for school. It was one thing to know this, but it was completely another thing to truly understand that he always was late for class for the same reasons that he could actually control.

Then, there was the habit he had of not organizing his materials and papers and misplacing his work in places that he couldn't remember. For that, Haru had promptly brought along a number of folders and binders and anything that could organize his work.

The other habits involved each subject for every class. History, as he learned, was something that involved understanding each event and how they were related, not just memorization of random facts. Language and grammar involved knowing the many different rules and exceptions, and for this he found that he was somehow better off with reading and writing than he had previously imagined. Science was something that he found to regard plenty of memorizing and knowing things, to which Haru showed him a few tricks on the memorization.

He was finally starting to learn the material that he had missed from so many years of not doing well in school. He was currently a high school student, and that meant that there were certain things he would be expected to know along with the material he learned. The fact was that he did not learn enough to ensure that the knowledge he was faced with in the classes would sink in, mostly because he had not paid attention in the past to the classes before.

It was a vicious cycle that he had been in, and somehow Haru had broken it and realigned him to the direction he needed to go, even though he was still quite behind most of his classmates.

He had not known that time could be spent so efficiently.

Tsuna chuckled and closed his eyes. Somehow, underneath the guise of being overenthusiastic and determined, Haru had found the right balance between helping him a little and being overbearing. It was as though she had known that she wouldn't be able to help him if she did everything, and left enough of the tasks for him to do on his own to allow him to become more independent.

It was almost as though she knew what he needed for understanding academic skills.

"—_Haru thinks you need to learn how to do this on your own eventually, because there will be a day when Haru might not be around—"_

He frowned. Wait…that probably didn't mean what he thought it meant, right? After all, Haru would never really think that she would die. It was more likely that she probably meant she might not be around all day to study with him, considering that she will be busy with more than helping the family. She was a student of the elite Midori Middle School, after all.

And, even if she didn't mean it that ways, he was going to protect her, just like he would protect the rest of the family.

And, for that, he will make sure that he will not let her get out of sight.

Tsuna shook his head. He was thinking too much lately.

"Actually, no. You're thinking more like a mafia boss now."

Tsuna sighed. "I guess I should give up on asking you to stop reading me, huh?"

"That's right."

Tsuna felt the edge of his mouth frown, "Damn it."

The arcobaleno smirked. "Anyways, what's your thoughts on your recent study planning?"

Tsuna flinched. Of all things, he was never comfortable with telling Reborn new things about himself, since it often resulted in chaos and serious trouble that he often didn't want to get into. What's more, he was quite sure that Reborn's idea of improvement was not always his idea of something that he needed to improve on—

"Tsuna, just tell me what you think of the result of your studying."

"Okay, okay! Well…the thing is, I guess I've been doing a little better."

"Exactly."

"That and…I know now why I didn't study well: I didn't know how to plan things, I sleep late, eat things that aren't too healthy, and not exercise enough as well as give up too easily on things I don't do well on. Haru tells me that I have a lot of bad habits that I acquired over the years, and I really have to agree with her on that."

"That's right."

"Haru also told me that there are several ways to change those bad habits, but…I don't know if I can do all of that at once right away."

"Yes, you can."

"Huh?"

Reborn smiled, then placed Leon back on his fedora hat and leapt onto the table. "As long as you plan well, you can place everything into a few months worth."

"Hiiiii! No, Reborn! I don't want to do that! It's too tiring!"

"Tsuna, you do realize that you might not have as much time as you think?"

Tsuna stopped at those words. So, Reborn was thinking of what he was going to have to do in the next three years and after. Did that mean that he had about only two years worth of high school?

"About time that you realized that."

"Reborn! What should I do? If I have to go to Italy when I'm eighteen, does that mean tha—"

"That you're going to be sworn into the Vongola by then? Yes. Not yet as the Tenth mafia boss, because you will need a few years of experience to do that, but…at least as a Vongola family member."

"But…but…" Tsuna felt his voice falter. He couldn't do this…he had too little time, and too little experience with dealing with all of this right away.

Two years was not long enough. Not long enough for him to study well in school, not long enough for him to ask Kyoko-chan out on a date…

Not long enough for him to come to terms with what was going on in his future as a mafia boss.

Damn it…two years is not enough.

"Tsuna-san?"

Tsuna looked up from his hands, and saw that Haru was glancing at him worriedly near the door from just arriving.

"Oh, hey, Haru..."

"Tsuna-san looks so tired."

Huh? Oh. Right.

Haru walked over and sat down on the nearest chair. "Reborn-chan, why is it that Tsuna-san has to go to Italy in two years?"

"Good question. It's because he will need to become the Tenth Vongola family boss by the time he is twenty four."

"Hahi?"

"What?"

"If that's the case, then Tsuna-san will need to plan everything within those two years, right?"

Reborn nodded under his black fedora. "That's right. The average mafia boss ascends the position in their early twenties, and because the Vongola family is the leading mafia family in the world, it is customary for the new mafia boss to be capable enough to lead by the time he is around twenty four."

"Damn it! Why?"

Reborn ignored his outburst, and continued, "The thing is, a mafia family leads partially through strength of power and influence, and they display this somewhat through their leader and said leader's capabilities from the beginning. If there is one thing you must watch out for as a future family boss, it's that you must maintain at least the power balance of the mafia don of the Vongola. That means you are to make sure that everyone in the family listens to and is loyal to you."

Tsuna flinched. "What if they don't listen to me?"

"Then, that means you aren't completely accepted as the Tenth Don of the Vongola family, which reflects badly on your lack of leadership skills. What's more, there are families and mafia organizations out there other than the Cavallone and the Tomaso and the Giglio Nero, and many of them aren't anywhere near as considerate and kind as our closest allies."

At the mention of the other families in the world, Haru paled. "Hahi! What would the Vongola mafia boss have to do about mafia families other than their allies, then?"

"Exactly. That will have to depend on the situation. However…most of the time, they will have to either attempt to communicate with them to ally with their kind or destroy them. The business world of the mafia, as it is, is as competitive as any legal business world, and the fact remains that the Vongola can only spread its influence and name and power through alliances in regards to relations with other organizations in peacetimes."

"Damn it! This is worse than I thought!"

"Haru agrees with Tsuna-san! I don't think anyone can become an upright mafia boss within just a few years of time, even if they are as wonderful and cool as Tsuna-san!"

"I never said that he had to be an 'upright' mafia boss, did I?"

Tsuna watched as Haru frowned. "Just because Tsuna-san is going to have to become a mafia boss doesn't mean he can't be upright morally! If he isn't moral and upright, he might get caught or at least he won't feel like he could live with himself!"

"Well…that's the way it is for a mafia boss, Haru."

Tsuna winced as he noticed how Haru's frown deepened and her eyes became misty. Damn it, this was what he didn't want Haru to know. It was unfortunate, but even he knew that mafia bosses often did not follow the conventional standard of justice or anything of the sort. However, to watch Haru realize this and become disheartened by the fact was somehow painful, and he immediately switched the subject of the conversation.

"Haru! I think it's time for us to study! Um…as for the mafia thing, I'll need to talk to you later about it."

"…okay."

The brown-haired teenager blinked as the girl walked over to his table and allowed Reborn to go out the door. It was unusual for Haru to be so complacent, and yet from his vantage point, he noticed how she seemed lost in thought and had a most somber expression on her face that he usually didn't expect.

In some ways, he suspected that expression from her to be from her disappointment, mostly from her expectations on what a mafia boss and what the mafia world was like.

"Haru, how about this? Um, I have a bit of free time during tomorrow afternoon, so…"

Haru nodded numbly, and Tsuna had to force himself to keep his smile from falling. Damn, he should have known that Haru most likely didn't like certain darker aspects of the world they lived in and so forth.

"If you want to talk to me about anything then, I'm willing to listen."

The black-haired girl nodded again, then a moment later began to understand the implications of his words and blinked.

"Uh…yeah. Seriously, we're friends, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And friends do talk to each other very often at times, right?"

"Yeah?"

Tsuna smiled. "It would be great if I get to at least talk to you a bit more."

"Hahi?"

It was then that he noticed Haru staring at him as though he had grown a tree out of his brain. "Huh? What's wrong, Haru?"

"Tsuna-san just asked Haru to talk to him about anything."

"Um, yeah?"

Haru frowned contemplatively and bit on her lip. Then, as though she had just seen the sun rise out from the West, she tilted her head at him and continued, "Tsuna-san usually doesn't do that before, though: actually wanting to talk to Haru about anything that is so personal and different. Haru isn't sure why that is the case, though, but she thinks that it might be because Haru doesn't understand Tsuna-san enough."

Tsuna blushed at the realization. Dang, she was really right-on about the fact that he used to ignore her for the most part, mostly because he never really considered her to be close to him in those times. "Um, about that…I want to apologize for ignoring you all those times before. Sorry about that."

"Why?"

"Huh? What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Why is Tsuna-san apologizing? Tsuna-san probably has a good reason to not talk to Haru that often."

"Actually," Tsuna winced at the explanation, "I think it might be because I never really understood you, either."

"Hahi?"

"Haru, I will admit…I was very foolish. I didn't have much of an opinion of you in the past."

For a moment, he saw a slight hint of surprise in her eyes, as well as a bit of sorrow and acceptance. Then, almost as though it was a moment that passed and disappeared like smoke, it was gone and Haru looked at him curiously.

Tsuna sighed, then glanced at her straight in the eyes and placed a bandaged hand on her hand, "That will never be the case again. From this day onwards, my opinion of you will no longer be that ways."

"But…"

Tsuna blinked. "Huh?"

It was then that he noticed her expression. Somehow, she seemed so solemn, almost as though she was lost in a sea of thought and despair.

It was then that her words caught his attention. "But Haru is silly, weird and useless."

Tsuna stilled. "What?" He whispered harshly.

"Haru doesn't know how to help out enough, and she only knows how to get in the way."

Tsuna felt his back tense up at her words. What was going on? From what he knew, Haru would be cheerful and extra energetic whenever he changed his opinion of her for the better. Why was she so reluctant to accept this change?

Was it something she couldn't say?

It was then that Haru noticed what she had said, and paled. "Hahi! Haru doesn't mean it that ways! It's just that I'm is a bit surprised that Tsuna-san would say this to Haru all of a sudden, and that Haru doesn't know how to respond to what Tsuna-san has given me. Haru just doesn't know how to accept such a great change so easily, especially since she is just the new subordinate and so forth, and she can't—"

"Do you really think that way?"

"Um…"

Tsuna sighed. "Haru, it's not that hard for me to see that you are a bit nervous and somewhat bewildered, as well as a bit reluctant to accept this change. What's going on?"

"It's just that Haru doesn't always think of herself as worthy for such a change."

Tsuna frowned. "Of course you are."

"Haru hasn't done anything yet that proves herself worthy!"

"Actually, you have."

"Hahi? Since when?"

"Since that time when you showed me that I could become someone that I wanted to be, even though I was so used to being a nobody and thought that it was the best way to go."

"Hahi?"

"The thing is, Haru, that you were right. I might want to be an ordinary person, but I can't be a completely ordinary one at this rate, because I might end up making life harder for everyone. You see, I used to think that I was just a low-rate guy who didn't have to do anything and could just sit there and daydream. But, that all changed."

The brown-haired teenager paused, then continued, "Haru, I used to be okay with being a nobody. But now, I'm starting to realize just how wrong that is. Just because you told me that I could do something better for once. I guess I realized something in the Future ten years later, because if I don't become the mafia boss that everyone needs to lead the Vongola, then people like Byakuran will come up again and again just to hurt everyone I care about."

As Tsuna said this, he noticed how Haru's eyes had widened. Strange, really, how he was changing so quickly these days, to the point of making Haru surprised to such a level. Of all things, he had never expected to come up with such a promise to himself, but it was at that moment when he realized that the war against the Millefiore had not turned out as perfectly as he had hoped in the end.

It was at that moment when he realized that Uni had sacrificed herself for the sake of the victory of the Vongola against the Millefiore. It was at that moment when he understood that he had been idly standing on the side for far too long, and that he couldn't risk another disaster that would occur, present-time or future-time.

It was at that moment when he literally swore on his own blood to become the Tenth mafia boss of the Vongola that he understood why he had fought that mafia war. He had no other choice. The world was not always full of heroes to fight for them, and though he would probably never consider himself a hero, he did at least know that he had the capability to maintain things for the better and for the sake of people he knew.

He was Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Tenth Generation boss of the Vongola family, and he…

He had a responsibility to live up to, even if that meant he would become an outcast again.

"Haru, if I don't do this and become someone different, someone else will show up along the way and ruin things for all of us. I admit, it isn't something that I enjoy doing, but…I am willing to do this if it means I can defend everyone."

"Really?"

Tsuna smiled serenely. "Really. So, don't think that you are silly and useless."

He watched as a tell-tale blush began to spread across her cheeks, and smiled. He wondered how often she was praised in such a genuine way.

"Seriously, Haru, you are brave, smart and quite a speaker!"

"Hahi! Tsuna-san! Stop making Haru blush!"

The laughter that bubbled up from him and the flustered protestations from Haru was like the afternoon sun that would set the colors of the sky on fire and make the water glow brightly, memorable and vivid.

* * *

"So, you've shown up. Right on time, too."

"Yep. Haru is right on time!" Haru chirruped happily as she watched Reborn nod once, then wave to the man behind him. Said person then unlocked the suitcases and took out a few things that made her immediately jump back fearfully.

"Hahi? So many guns! And an umbrella?"

"Actually, that's a multi-weapon umbrella, with a spear if you pull the switch inside open the other way, and with a machine gun if you hit this lock," Reborn flicked on the red switch near the base of the umbrella handle. Immediately, several black steel handles came up and flicked together into a strange formation, then fell open to reveal a machine gun with several string rounds of bullets on the back.

"Why an umbrella, though?"

"Because you don't want to carry a gun out in the open to school, right?"

Haru nodded. It made sense, mostly because the people at Midori weren't allowed to bring dangerous things of any sort. Blades, guns, and dynamite were just some of the long list of things that she wasn't allowed to carry in.

Wait…did that mean—

"Hahi? So you want me to carry some of these guns to school?"

"Exactly."

"But, Haru will be caught! This…is there any way to hide this?" Haru hesitantly pointed to the umbrella machine gun.

"As a matter of fact, there is. This grey switch here," Reborn indicated with his left hand on the top section of the machine gun, "will turn the entire thing back to what it looks like on the outside."

Haru hesitantly nodded. "O—oh. Okay."

"Still hesitating, aren't you?"

"Um," Haru winced, "I don't know how to shoot or fight."

"That's why you are going to take lessons from us. From tomorrow in the morning, someone will pick you up to the gun training. I will be there to show you how to shoot a gun properly until noon. As for fighting…" Reborn then turned and nodded to the man behind him, "this is Antonio, a trusted subordinate of Dino Cavallone. He is a specialist in most modern hand-to-hand combat forms and will train you on self-defense for now. You will train with him every Friday after school at 4 PM."

Haru blinked. That was quick.

"So, that will be your training schedule for now. From what I can tell, Tsuna is going to need you to help him with his extra time in training his limbs as well, isn't he?"

"Y—yes."

"Alright, then. Now, here is a Romanian AK-47. You will be keeping this in your room or dormitory whenever you can. But just remember…keep it in a place where you can absolutely remember where it is, just in case your opponent shows up at the door and tries to kill you."

Haru blinked. This was really a lot to handle, though she had practiced for years on memorization. The fact, however, was that she would have to tell herself not to balk when holding any of these materials, especially the umbrella and the AK-47.

"This one," Reborn continued as he held up a much smaller gun, "is a caliber 9 mm self-loading Ekol Zoraki 914 knall, which you will carry in your smaller bags. The fact that this is a small one will make it easier for you to shoot in a moment when people are watching and when you have no other choice. It will make less of a panic until you fire."

Haru nodded as she considered the gun. She thought for a moment about why it was that they were giving her so many guns, then asked, "Um, why are there so many guns for Haru, though?"

"Because you are selected as a future consigliere." Reborn smiled. "You are determined to help Tsuna and the group above all, and yet you have little to no ambition towards gaining political power or wealth and so forth other than what is necessary for living expenses."

"We have analyzed your background, and you fit the guidelines very well," he continued, "You have proven yourself especially in regarding your academic records. The thing is that there will be plenty of people who will seek to destroy the Vongola, and that one of such ways is through killing the people who are close to Tsuna. You are one of those people, and unfortunately you have not yet had much training in combat."

Haru hesitantly nodded. Compared to Tsuna-san and the rest of the gang who knew how to fight, she really wasn't very capable at taking down a capable opponent at this time, as much as she didn't like to admit. Her skill with gymnastics were of a bit of use, but it was still not something that she could use as much in a dangerous situation against an enemy.

She needed to have a few guns for now. She didn't have a flame to fight with, at least not yet. And she would need to find a way to protect herself in the case that Tsuna and the others weren't there to protect her if they were busy with opponents of their own.

Though it was slightly unnerving—the fact that she was going to carry guns around her all the time—the fact that she was now with the ability to protect herself made her glad for a moment. She did have to admit, it was scary that she now had the ability to kill, but the fact remained that she needed to be safe and prevent the group from worrying about her. Still, she was somewhat unsure about the fear that she might shoot someone innocent.

"Um…Reborn-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Are you really sure about this? I mean…Haru doesn't want to hurt anyone, really…I mean, I know that I might have to protect myself, but…"

The arcobaleno blinked at her words, then smiled. "The fact that we are giving you all this shows that we trust your judgement, Haru. Don't worry."

* * *

To be continued…

* * *

Please review. :)


	7. The Beginning of Routine Days

**Title:** Under the Endless Sky

**Part:** I. Trial through Fire and Ice

**Chapter:** 7. The Beginning of Routine Days

**Author:** Primal Red

**Character(s)/Pairing:** Sawada Tsunayoshi. Miura Haru. Dokuro Chrome. Yamamoto Takeshi. Gokudera Hayato. Hibari Kyoya. Reborn. Eventual TsuHaru and 1896.

**Genre:** Action/Adventure/Drama/General/Romance/Alternate Canon from chapter 256

**Rating: **PG-13 for combat violence, some blood. Will be Rated R/M in Part III of the fanfic.

**Warnings:** Use of guns, other weaponry, combat tactics, and fighting mindset and some injuries for the squeamish.

**Summary:** It was becoming an everyday occurrence for Dokuro Chrome to be watched as she sparred and trained. [AU starting from chapter 256, Post-Future Arc]

**Beta:** Lackey_h, Audriel, Tatsu-no-Houou, fira525 and Kuroshinji. ;) The five of you are so awesome. :3

* * *

"_There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state to another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life."_

—Alexandre Dumas

* * *

Chapter 7: The Beginning of Routine Days

* * *

It was becoming an everyday occurrence for Dokuro Chrome to be watched as she sparred and trained in the last few weeks.

Not that she was ever going to be completely used to it, though; for her to have to train with, of all people, Hibari Kyoya, and to be watched by Boss and Reborn and Gokudera Hayato and another girl—Miura Haru—who seemed to be writing all the time whenever she wasn't watching her every move for observations on combat strengths and weaknesses, it was a bit much. She couldn't say much about the matter, though. The fact was that she was here to improve, and that she would have to fight opponents who might be much more calculating and dangerous showed that it was necessary for this. She had to be here.

Still, it didn't mean that she didn't feel cornered every single time five pairs of eyes locked onto her every movement and turn of limbs and stance and so forth.

Chrome winced as her sparring opponent—Hibari Kyoya, the Cloud Guardian of their team—slid nonchalantly back into his stance from her vantage point near the ground as she slowly got up, trying not to wince from her bruises and bleeding. She had never gotten used to being beaten so much before, mostly due to the fact that she was always trained with Ken or Chikusa and Mukuro-sama, and the fact was that Mukuro-sama never allowed either of them to go all out against her. Still, it was understandable, for she was a bit on the weaker side compared to the rest of the team, and she was needed to fight eventually, and that made it a major priority for her to improve—

Her dark indigo hair blew against her cheek as she barely avoided another one of Hibari's swings and she leapt backwards in the air with all the strength in her legs as she could muster, angling her body carefully to avoid any more of the Cloud Guardian's swift tonfa swings. She knew, for a fact, that the young man she was facing did not appreciate her being with him, nor did he seem to like her much personally. What she also knew was that he had somehow agreed to improving her skills on combat, and that he was trying to force her to stand up to him eventually and face him directly on the combat field as often as possible, which explained why said Namimori prefect never once allowed her to give up. In fact, he often even went as far as pushing her to fight him and to challenge him vocally.

Chrome pulled her trident staff closer to her and blocked one of Hibari's iron tonfa as she ducked to avoid another one of his violently powerful swings, which forced her to take a few steps back from the impact. She still hadn't had the strength to block any of his attacks head on without moving from her position, unlike Mukuro-sama, but she was at least improving—that is, IF what she did would be considered improving enough. What's more, her illusions were closer to reaching the point where she could convince most people to the point of making the surroundings exactly how they appear from a meter or so. Now, she had to refine that and reach the level where Mukuro-sama could teach her some of the more dangerous offensive attacks for an Illusion fighter, as well as be able to face off one-on-one against a dangerous hand-to-hand combat fighter like Hibari Kyoya with illusions.

The female Mist Guardian swung her trident to the side quickly, and threw herself into the attack at the perceived opening. Sensing her sudden change and bolster in confidence, the Cloud Guardian's eyes gleamed dangerously and he rushed at her again, both tonfa ready to throw her off balance with their impact. Chrome ducked under one swing, rolled out of the way of one of his kicks, and threw an offensive illusion at him to buy some time.

Hibari jumped out of the way of the illusion quickly—and Chrome bit on her lip as she jumped over another one of his tonfa coming at her. It seemed that she couldn't use any illusions in time to fight him, which meant that she would have to fight him one-on-one with her trident instead of using illusions for now. Eventually, she might be able to get to the point of being able to use Illusions fast enough so that she could catch him for a moment in a vulnerable position.

Chrome ducked and leaped backwards to avoid another impacting tonfa. The Cloud Guardian truly was a dangerous opponent for her type. Already, he was able to sense her speed in making illusions, as well as the fact that he was reading every single one of her movements with his sense of movement and almost forcing her to improve as much as possible. He was overwhelmingly fast and intensely powerful in every single one of his hits at the same time, which made the situation that much harder to handle directly. What's more, he was completely the paragon of a direct fighter. Someone like him would most likely have a weakness in few things, such as being caught off guard.

Very unlikely in a situation like this.

Chrome watched Hibari warily as he rushed at her again, eyes gleaming with anticipation of another fight round. It seemed that she wouldn't be able to fight him from behind him easily, either, since he was so capable of swinging around him and hitting his opponents right in the most advantageous ways for him. Maybe she could catch him off guard somehow? But she was hardly fast enough to avoid his swings these days. What's more, she was exhausted and didn't think that she could keep this on much longer—

A crash resounded in the field area, and Chrome found herself winded in the stomach and thrown violently to the side as she rolled across the grass, dirty and bruised. She thought she heard Miura Haru gasp and Tsuna yell her name for a moment, and then—

"That's good enough."

Chrome watched as the prefect stopped, and nodded.

"Hahi! Chrome-san, you okay?"

Chrome looked up hesitantly at the fearful tone of the girl. Miura Haru was running over to her concernedly, paper notebook and pencil in one hand and a First-Aid kit box in another, with Boss walking behind her worriedly.

"Haru! I think Chrome might be okay if you took her to a side to bandage her. Is that okay with you?"

"Okay, Tsuna-san! Chrome-san, let's go over to the girl's locker room! Here, let me get your shoulder…"

Chrome blinked and winced as Haru lifted her up, careful to not touch any of her injuries. She wasn't exactly too used to being around others so often in such a manner, and the fact that she didn't know how to react to anyone other than Mukuro-sama being so kind to her didn't help matters. The fact was, she didn't know how handle any of social situations as Haru chattered away with her and took her to the girl's locker room. What she did know, however, was that Haru didn't seem to mind so much, for the other girl seemed to understand that the fight was somewhat painful and that she was not someone who particularly had a good time with talking.

Especially on the first day.

When she and the other girl met on the first time they had the trial sparring, Chrome thought she saw the other girl hesitate for a moment, as though she didn't understand what was going on or what would happen or what she could say to her. When the fighting started, however, and when Chrome began to get hit violently, Haru had protested angrily and shouted at Hibari—even going as far as trying to hit him while Boss restrained her—as though she was angry with the Cloud Guardian for hitting a girl so harshly even if it was a spar.

For that, Chrome didn't understand. It was just a spar and the injuries were just to get her to improve faster, right?

"Er…Chrome-san, is it okay if you…um…take your shirt off for a moment?"

Chrome hesitantly nodded, then turned around and began to unbutton her shirt. She had, on that first day, shrunk in a corner when Haru offered to help her apply the disinfectant, balm and bandages, and it took a lot of convincing from Boss's part as well as Haru's to get her to agree. Still, it had been nerve-wracking that day, and she knew that it was mostly due to the fact that she wasn't used to being so openly vulnerable to people. Haru had, as a result, kindly told her that most girls in the public schools were used to seeing each other in such a way.

But, somehow, it was becoming easier to do so, to be vulnerable in front of this family, Haru included. Somehow, the girl wasn't trying to hurt her or speak badly of her in any way, and had simply helped her with her injuries cheerfully, all the while not caring about the fact that she had fought badly. Chrome knew that a mafia family's consigliere like that of the Vongola family's was someone who usually knew the Guardians very well, but it was a surprise for her to see that the other girl was enthusiastically willing to take that role even further and even see her as someone who she wanted to protect and care for.

"Hey, Chrome-san, by the way, I was wondering if you knew about a mafia consigliere's role in combat situations."

Chrome jumped. The sudden question was a bit of a change, considering that Haru usually just allowed her to only nod or shake her head in case she needed to say anything.

"It's just…that I am starting to wonder what I can do to…well…help. The thing is, I am kind of behind on the combat roles, and though I want to help, it's unfortunate that I don't know much about fighting in the first place."

Haru smiled, but her usually cheerful eyes were tinged with a bit of uncertainty. Her tone, usually upbeat and quick in that fast-paced manner that she usually spoke with, had slowed down at the last word, and she had looked to the side for a moment.

The female Mist Guardian was not exactly a well of knowledge, but she did not miss those particular factors. It took a mere twelve seconds for her to digest the entirety of the other girl's words, as well as a realization of the fact that said girl was also the chosen consigliere of their team.

For a seemingly upbeat, happy girl, Miura Haru was surprisingly insecure and unsure about her abilities.

Just like her.

Chrome stopped. What should she say? Something about the way that Haru spoke showed that there was something that made the girl feel uncertain in regards to her competence, and it was something that the team needed to fix somehow. They were not exactly in a time or place to afford to allow or leave any weaknesses abound that could be exploited eventually, physically or emotionally, and Chrome knew that sooner or later Haru was going to have to face the enemy in the same way she herself did a couple of times already.

She really needed to become stronger, as well.

_Both of them needed to be stronger._

The female Mist Guardian blinked at the last thought. Haru was actually quite helpful, in a lot of ways, but it was true that both of them realized that they needed to become stronger eventually. From what she could tell, it seemed that the other girl wanted to help out just as much as she did.

_Both of them wanted to be helpful._

And, in ways, she could see Haru becoming stronger; the other girl was quite smart for her age.

Chrome bit on her lip to refrain from showing her smile, and then quietly said, "U—um…I—I…I think Haru-san can…help a lot."

She watched as the other girl blinked, slightly taken aback by her words and blushing, and Chrome found herself mentally shrinking inwards. She really hoped she didn't say anything bad or wrong…

"Chrome-san…"

Chrome felt her heart stop, then looked at Haru. Something about the other girl's tone showed a certain softness in her voice, one that seemed to speak of a kind of sorrow that Chrome wondered about. Why? What was it that made this girl so certain that she might not do as well as she wanted?

Haru was strong and happy, unlike her.

So, why? Why was it that she would feel so sad and unsure?

"Do you really think that ways?"

Chrome stared. Something was really off. She never would have expected the joyful, vibrant Haru to be so sad and lost, as though she wasn't sure if she was right about anything at all. Whatever it was, the thing that was affecting Haru was something she wanted to get rid of.

She wanted to take away that grief, that sadness that the other girl was feeling. She wanted to change whatever it is that affected the other girl and made her think she couldn't do anything right.

Something akin to determination and certainty made Chrome hesitantly place a hand on Haru's shoulders. She didn't know if this was the right way, but she was going to try to make it better. Suffering was something Chrome wasn't alien to, but she didn't like to see it on others.

"Y—yes, Haru-san. Yes, I do."

Chrome watched as Haru's eyes widened, then something akin to gratitude flowed into Haru's brown eyes, and Chrome could have sworn that she saw the other girl's emotions solidify into something genuine.

"T—thank you, Chrome-san."

Chrome felt a smile tug at the edge of her mouth, and before she could hide it any more, she found that Haru was smiling at her in a way that showed so much gratitude that she could hardly understand better.

The remainder of their break consisted of Haru speaking of other things that Chrome didn't understand much about, but Chrome felt that something about Haru's demeanor showed a bright warmth and gratefulness that she didn't see before.

And she couldn't be happier.

* * *

The sun was as mysterious and beautiful as it could be in the horizon of the early morning, and Yamamoto Takeshi found himself jogging down the road to baseball practice again. He had, as usual, escorted Haru to the training grounds where Tsuna, Reborn and Gokudera-kun and Hibari and Chrome were, then went off to his usual time of training with baseballs and bats.

Yamamoto smiled. The weather was getting warmer, and school would soon be over for the tenth grade. From then on until in the autumn, he would be able to spend more time with Tsuna and the others, as well as figure out what sort of business everyone was getting into.

The black-haired boy looked at the sky and chuckled. It was another day as usual, and things were becoming interesting, alright. Tsuna had just gotten out of the hospital, and though his cast will be off by later today, he was still ready to practice a bit on the activation of his ring and all. What's more, Gokudera had, as usual, warned him to show up on time after the training. As normal as that was, Yamamoto realized that the Italian boy had threatened him with fireworks if he were to overstrain himself and pull any muscles.

Needless to say, Gokudera-kun was rather blunt in his way of showing he cared, but the fact that he truly cared about Yamamoto's health made the Rain Guardian of the Vongola family laugh.

Gokudera truly wore his heart on his sleeve, as much as he hated to admit it.

Yamamoto chuckled, then allowed his thought process to crawl towards the direction of what the future might hold. Gokudera and Tsuna had told him about the changes in their schedules, as well as the things they would need to do in order to prepare for any future trouble. He had never asked much about the things that involved the overall situation, mostly because he knew that neither of them completely understood the circumstances as well.

Tsuna was going to become the Tenth, and because of that, things were going to become more difficult in the future due to people who didn't like him.

Yamamoto stopped his gait and thought for a moment. It seemed that the difficulty of the situation was in the fact that these same people never seemed to show themselves well. The fact was that Tsuna did have to overcome and escape a lot of dangerous situations, and there were times when Yamamoto wondered if the situation would ever reach an end.

If it did, then he would hope for it.

If it didn't…

Yamamoto felt something akin to uncertainty crawl into his hands, and he blinked. Now, that was odd. He usually didn't feel unsure before. Usually, he would expect things to go back to normal for a moment, then go towards a direction of something more interesting for once. Tsuna had, as usual, told him that it wasn't going to be very easy, and that the chances of a situation going bad is somewhat higher, but he had smiled it off.

Until now.

Something was coming up.

And, if it becomes bad, he will have to be ready for it.

Yamamoto frowned. Being ready was something that he didn't quite know as much about at times. Last time he had trained, it was in the future of ten years later, and Reborn had ensured his training himself. Still, in a situation like this…

It was likely he would have to find out more about the opponent. If he wanted to ensure that he could be ready for something like this, he would have to search for a training plan and someone to help him decide on what can be done.

* * *

As it seems, his world wasn't going to get better easily.

Tsuna bit on his lip as he kept his eyes closed in concentration in his room. Now wasn't the time to mess up his focus, considering that Reborn had asked him to take a break from his strength training using meditation, and he knew that he wanted to stay as calm as he could. Nonetheless, any sign of fret would often lead to a truckload of worries and mountains of stress in his book, since he was the kind of person who worried too much for his own good at times.

At least, that was what Haru said. She had even suggested that he try to concentrate on the purpose and ignore whatever that eats away at his mind for a while in order to accomplish his goals at hand.

So far, it worked in ways.

Nevertheless, he wondered whether he could keep his head in dire, much more drastic times.

"_In those kind of moments, actually, Haru thinks that maybe Tsuna-san will need to have learned to concentrate better, as well as figure out the reasons behind the worry and resolve those concerns eventually when Tsuna-san has the means and time. It isn't good to worry all the time, since worrying often doesn't help anything."_

Tsuna bit on his lip again. Damn it…he was letting his mind stray too much.

It seemed that he was having a hard time trying to concentrate enough for difficult things. The thing is, Haru had said something about the ability to focus being a skill, as was the skill of writing notes and organizing and planning, and Tsuna wondered whether it was more due to the fact that he had not honed his skills in those ways or whether it was due to the fact that he was not naturally tuned to being a concentrator.

Then again, either way, Reborn had said that he was capable anyways if he set his mind to it, so why not build up on it anyhow?

Then again, it seemed that Reborn was becoming more insistent on him developing quite a number of different skills lately. Was it due to the fact that he was going to meet that new supposed trainer?

And if so, what was it about this trainer that seemed to be so different?

Tsuna paused, then thought for a moment. Reborn had told him about the fact that he was giving Haru a form of secret training, partially for her to catch up with the rest of the team and for her to become the next consigliere of their group. For anything like this to occur, Tsuna admitted that it was a good thing.

What made the situation unusual, though, was the fact that Haru had taken to the training immediately within the next couple of days and had filled her entire schedule with it outside of the time she spent with him and on schoolwork. Reborn hadn't told him much about the training, however. From what it seemed, though, Haru was happier these days and carried herself with a more reserved caution and confidence that he didn't see before.

Which made him hope for the best. Haru, as he knew, didn't excel at combat as of yet, and this could make her a target for people who wished to attack anyone of his family. Though she was good at gymnastics and capable of physically strenuous work, she had not been trained in combat before meeting him.

Still, he felt something akin to uncertainty about this. Haru, from what he understood, had never killed or fought in realistic situations before, and this could very well lead to her having to defend herself one day. He just hoped that when the time came, she would be ready for the psychological consequences.

If not, he will be there to help her through. Him and Gokudera and Yamamoto and everyone in the team.

For now, he wasn't going to ask.

Tsuna smiled, then thought over what he was going to be readying himself for. He had finished taking off his cast just a few hours ago, and now he was recovering well. However, combat-wise, it seemed that the trainer was not someone who he could simply fight with in any ordinary circumstance. Reborn had, as usual, said that he had shown a strong lack of tactics in the war against the Millefiore and had simply overpowered Byakuran using the blunt direct force of his flames. If he had not activated and completed his ring immediately, it was likely that Byakuran would have slaughtered everyone he knew and destroyed his life until there was nothing more left to his world.

Not that he didn't destroy anything. Namely, someone's life.

Namely, Uni.

It was his fault, after all, that Uni died.

"_Sawada-dono! Run!"_

"_Uni!"_

_The agonized, terrified screams of the girl as she went up in flames was the last moment he saw—right before he looked at the perpetrator of the malicious white flames that shoved through the girl's soul. Byakuran laughed maniacally, throwing more and more of his joy into the pain of the girl who was dying and being burned inside out alive. The white flames around him whipped out of the Arcobaleno viciously, eagerly tearing her mind apart and destroying her tiny frame. Tsuna could only watch helplessly as the color red flew everywhere and the skeleton of said girl who didn't run in time crashed against his hands._

_It was then that Sawada Tsunayoshi felt a rush of adrenaline in his entire frame, a rush that he no longer felt he wanted to control. A friend of his was destroyed, as well as all of her dreams, hopes and humanity. She had never wished to hurt anyone, despite being in the Giglio Nero mafia family, and now she no longer existed. _

_That someone had intended to blow her up into a bloody mess in the first place._

_He would never forgive that._

_Tsuna closed his eyes, and allowed his flame to intermingle with his hatred and wrath. It washed over him in tsumani waves as he opened his eyes again, and glanced straight into the eyes of the bastard._

_A desire to destroy._

_To annihilate completely._

"_BYAKURAN! I'LL KILL YOU!"_

_Tsuna felt the flame of his ring resound throughout his body, as the flame that he drew on threw all his power into the X-Burner onto the bastard who destroyed the Arcobaleno girl._

_The resounding boom in the area enveloped the entire city in its fiery orange wrath, and Tsuna watched with glee and righteous vindication as he forced the flames to curl into the bastard's insides. Byakuran screamed in agony and fear, and the fire tore apart the frame of the white-haired man as he disappeared gradually under the pressure of the orange flames…_

Tsuna blinked, then realized that he was breathing heavily and shaking. No…he wasn't going to ever do that again. EVER. He had been glad that Kyoko-chan had not gotten to see any of the violence—he was glad that Bianchi and Haru had kept the light-haired girl away from the battle and covered her eyes whenever the fighting on TV got vicious and bloody. The way that he had destroyed someone else's life, and the way that he had enjoyed thoroughly the pain and destruction of someone disturbed him.

He had actually ENJOYED watching someone suffer. He had ENJOYED throwing his power and wrath on that person.

Even if it had been that monster Byakuran…

He looked down, and realized he was clutching his chair on the sides very painfully. Even now, he was unable to completely get used to the fact that he had killed, and the fact that he was now no longer as innocent as he used to be. In ways, he wondered if this was how mafia bosses began at his age, then shook his head.

No…

He will not become a monster.

He will never become one, not as long as he had a say in the matter.

* * *

"It seems that the child isn't too bad, yes."

The yakuza glanced back at his team leader hesitantly. Said woman had just spoken with their leader a few days ago and was now leading him and his comrades around while watching that useless boy from school.

"Don't you think so, comrade Kenji?"

Yes, she was definitely talking about that boy who had walked down the street without the cast, and though he knew that she wasn't even looking, Kenji realized that Miss Zhang Ling was quite the dangerous kind of leader to have around.

Any form of disobedience or rebellion, and she will flat-out fry you into ash.

"E—erm…yes, Zhang-san."

"However…if he really wants to be qualified, he will have to go further than that. Much further. And not just in direct force."

An insidious smile crept across her face quietly, and Tanaka Kenji realized that he was shivering at the sight of it. As an experienced yakuza, he knew that the powerful Vongola family of Sicily had terrifying people. This one, for instance, left every single yakuza he knew far behind.

"Because his mind is weak."

* * *

The AK fourty seven's lower weight slammed against her shoulder painfully as each shot resounded through the room, and she narrowed her eyes as the false profile of the human target circles slid closer. She knew that she was new to this sort of thing, and that she had at least some time to practice her accuracy and precision. What's more, it would be a few weeks before she would ever get to really shoot anything in closely simulated situations, even though she was already starting to get the hang of the aiming and the rebounding pain against her shoulder. Now, she had to do it more often until she could get it perfectly—without concentrating half as much.

Haru stopped, glanced carefully through the visor, then positioned the AK-47 on her hands firmly and shot another round again.

Damn. Still can't always reach that dot at the center of circle one. The red target circle stood in the center right where the heart of the human figure would be, still partially empty.

What a mockery of her unpracticed hands and eyesight.

"It's alright, Signorina Haru. Not many people do this well at such an age, at least…not without years of practice. In fact, it's just been three weeks, and you have been a great student."

"Ah! Grazie, Signore Antonio. I guess I'm just being impatient. Haha…as the saying goes, la pazienza non è mai troppa_._"

"No, no…it's alright, really. You're so determined to be of help to all of us. That is a good thing."

Haru blushed and smiled at her mentor. Other than the teachers at her school—and even then most of them didn't exactly praise her to her face—the only people she did know who usually praised her are her parents. Tsuna-san had just joined that group recently, though.

"I think you might want to take a break for now. You've been practicing for three hours straight."

"Hahi! Wow. Time does go by quickly, doesn't it? May I practice a bit more later?"

"Perché, sicuro! Naturalmente."

Haru smiled as she nodded to her teacher, then pulled the lock on in the gun's trigger and placed it on the table and pulled off the headphones to press the stop trigger. She then walked down the stairs to the eating area, where she glanced around to look at the solitary target practice figures.

_"Pfft, and you actually think you could help more like this?"_

_Gokudera Hayato._

_Haru glared at him from the corner of her eyesight, then ignored him. He had been annoying as of late in his disbelieving, temperamental way of questioning everything she did. What's worse was that she didn't think that he would go out of his way to stop by and rest._

"_What are you doing here?"_

_Gokudera took a drag from his cigarette, then scoffed. "I'm here to watch you in the Tenth's place, stupid woman. He's worried about you."_

Haru blinked, then resumed her glance at the target near the door. She didn't like the fact that she was reflecting on the expectations that had been placed on her shoulders as of late, admittedly, mostly because she didn't like the idea of not living up to them. Still, to have it shoved in her face by none other than Tsuna's most capable guardian a few hours ago was something that made her think about whether or not she really lived up to Reborn-chan's hopes for her and whether she was really worthy of Tsuna's kindness.

_"So, he actually cares, too?"_

"_I didn't say THAT. Reborn insisted that you sharpen your strategic skills—or lack thereof—only because you can't fight worth anything."_

_Haru felt her brow twitch. Damn him…_

"_That's only because I don't have a stupid flame like YOU, idiot! When I DO get a flame, we'll see if you can still say that I am a useless weakling."_

"_Hmph. We'll see if you even have a flame, or even if that special flame of yours is any good."_

_Haru glared, and fumed angrily. Damn that idiot! How dare he insult her all the time like this when she needs time to prove her use to Tsuna-san! Well, he will be getting it soon enough. She was going to fight him one day and make him taste the pavement eventually if she ever got the chance to spar with him on an equal basis. She didn't care if she was being childish or vengeful, as long as she could wipe that arrogant sneer off his face._

_How dare he look down at her fighting skills! He had no right to, especially when she was just starting to see whether or not she could do anything at all for Tsuna-san!_

_"I CAN fight, you know." _

_Gokudera then turned disbelievingly, and whipped his head around at her. "No, you can't!"_

"_Yes, I can!"_

"_No, you can't!"_

"_I can, too!"_

"_Well, then prove it! I'd like to see whether you can even FIGHT at all."_

_Silence. _

_Haru glowered at Tsuna's self-appointed right-hand man. When she finally replied, the frosty calm in her tone cut through the air. "FINE, then. I WILL."_

With a few steps and a wide flick of her elbow and wrist, Haru whipped out her smallest gun and shot straight at the lower deck profile dummy against the wall.

The shot that rang out sounded angrily against the silence, and Haru calmly took in the result of her firing direction.

Bingo. Straight through the center dot of Circle 1 again, for once.

Haru frowned, then thought for a moment. No matter what, even if she had shown that to him face-to-face, Gokudera Hayato would have seen her as a degenerate mafiosi and someone who was unfitting to be anywhere near Tsuna. It was hopeless from the start, precisely because his opinion of her was pretty much set in stone.

Haru felt something akin to determination and righteous anger go through her figure, and when she looked up, she realized that she was furious.

She would not care to ask for his approval.

"_You will regret that you said those words to me, Signore Capo Bastone."_

Haru turned calmly, placed her gun back in her holster, and walked back down the stairs to the second floor where the other Cavallone mafiosi were taking a break. She did not wish to deal with more of this lack of self-confidence in her skills, and though she may tolerate it for the time being, she will not let them down this time around.

It was a waste of her time, after all, to prove to a certain right-hand man that she was capable when he already thought otherwise. She had more important things to do, like worrying about Tsuna and Chrome's training and what Kyoko-chan might need to know and so forth.

* * *

To be continued…

* * *

Review, please! :D


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